The Washington Capitals will have six total prospects at the 2025 World Junior Championship.
Ryan Leonard, the captain of Team USA, and Cole Hutson are the more well-known participants in this year’s premier under-20 tournament, but four of the club’s other recent draft selections will join them.
Leon Muggli (Switzerland)
Leon Muggli is the highest draft pick of the four other Capitals youngsters playing in the tournament and could play the largest role of any Washington prospect. Muggli, taken in the second round of the 2024 draft, nine picks after Hutson, will serve as Switzerland’s top defender and play at all three strengths.
Muggli is a veteran of the Swiss junior national ranks, playing in the under-18 World Championship and the under-20 World Juniors last year as a 17-year-old. He joins Leonard and Eriks Mateiko as the Capitals prospects returning to the tournament and will have another year of eligibility next season.
Washington loaned Muggli back to EV Zug in August, where he’s in the middle of his second full season playing against men in Switzerland’s top league. He has five points (1g, 4a) in 21 games this year after recording the most ever points (12) by a defenseman age 17 or younger in league history last season.
The 18-year-old rearguard signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the Capitals in early July after the team’s Development Camp.
Eriks Mateiko (Latvia)
Eriks Mateiko is also set to play in his second under-20 World Juniors after getting into five games for Latvia last year and scoring one goal. Mateiko was Washington’s second third-round selection in the 2024 draft, 15 picks after Ilya Protas.
Mateiko was the first Latvian-born player ever to be drafted by the Capitals. The 19-year-old winger is one of only two NHL draft picks on Latvia’s roster; the other, Darels Uljanskis, is a defenseman.
The six-foot-six-inch, 216-pound forward is playing his third season with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. Mateiko, the team’s captain, has 19 points (14g, 5a) in 23 games.
Mateiko signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the Capitals shortly after making his NHL preseason debut in late September.
Petr Sikora (Czechia)
Do Ottawy vyrazí k obhajobě bronzu tato sestava vyvolených! 💥
Do boje jde několik 🥉 medailistů z minulého šampionátu, v 🇨🇦 Kanadě se ale představí také Adam Jiříček nebo Adam Novotný. ✊#narodnitym #ceskyhokej #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/CsN4iaPeWs
— Český hokej (@czehockey) December 10, 2024
Petr Sikora is set for a top-six role with a Czech team looking to defend their bronze medal finish from last year. Washington selected Sikora with their sixth-round pick in the 2024 draft.
The 18-year-old forward has played most of his 2024-25 season with the senior HC Oceláři Třinec team in the Czech Extraliga. In 21 games against men, Sikora has recorded six points (4g, 2a).
Sikora scored two goals in Saturday’s 5-1 win over Latvia, Czechia’s first tune-up game. He has 10 points (2g, 8a) in 12 games for the Czech under-20 team in other international competition this year.
Miroslav Satan (Slovakia)
Miroslav Satan will play a depth role on Team Slovakia at his first under-20 tournament. The 18-year-old, son of Miroslav Satan Sr., was drafted in the seventh round by the Capitals in the 2024 draft.
Satan is playing his first season in North America with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. In 19 games, the six-foot-seven-inch, 190-pound forward has three points (2g, 1a).
Satan’s father had success at the one under-20 World Juniors he played in. During the 1994 Pool C round-robin tournament, he recorded 13 points (6g, 7a) in four games.
The 2025 tournament, hosted in Ottawa, will begin on December 26, 2024, and end with the gold medal game on January 5, 2025.
Germany and the United States will play the first game at the Canadian Tire Centre.
