WJC Grades: Caps, Ducks rule

The IIHF Under-20 World Championship came to a conclusion Thursday night with a thrilling 1-0 overtime win for Sweden over Russia, delivering Sweden's first gold medal since 1981.

While it's important not to draw too many conclusions from a small-sample tournament, the World Juniors provide a unique measuring stick to see how players already drafted by NHL franchises are developing.

With that in mind, here are my thoughts and grades for each NHL team's prospect pool represented at the tournament. The grades are based on all the prospects for a team's respective prospect pool, including ones not mentioned. It's worth noting that these are scouting-based grades, with statistics having minimal importance, again largely due to the small sample size.

Anaheim Ducks: A
• Emerson Etem didn't light up the lamp like I hoped, but he did show nice improvement to his possession game to combine with his high-end skating ability.
• Max Friberg was one of Sweden's best players, scoring a lot with his plus shot while also showing possession skills he didn't display at the event last year. His skating ability was improved as well.
• William Karlsson was brilliant at both ends for an 18-year-old despite not having great stats.
• Rickard Rakell dazzled observers every game with great puck skills but often tried to do too much.

To read the full article about the best and worst prospect pools and how each team graded out, sign up for Insider today.

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