All five Jets players at the 2026 IIHF World Championship set for the quarterfinals on Thursday
The Jets off-season continues as the NHL Draft is now just about one month away. It’s looking like it’s going to be a Carolina Hurricanes vs. Vegas Golden Knights Stanley Cup Finals, which will certainly be an interesting matchup. Speaking of matchups, the quarterfinals matchups at the 2026 IIHF World Championship are set. Mark Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi, Dylan DeMelo, Ville Heinola and Nino Niederreiter will all be playing in Thursday’s quarterfinals, with all three of their countries (Canada, Finland and Switzerland) looking like the three best teams at this tournament.
My last update on this tournament was back on May 22nd, where there were a few games left for each team in the seven game round robin. On Saturday (May 23rd) Finland and Canada had the night off, while Switzerland looked to maintain their perfect record against Hungary. The hosts had a dominating performance, winning 9-0. Despite all the goals, Niederreiter finished this game without getting on the scoresheet.
On Sunday, Finland kept their perfect record alive with a 5-2 win over Austria. Ville Heinola had 1 assist in this game, as he continued his tournament with another solid performance. Team Canada was also in action on this night, as the Canadians stayed in 1st place in their group with a 5-1 win over Slovakia. Scheifele had 1 assist and Vilardi had 1 goal and 1 assist during Canada’s strong third period in this victory.
May 25th was a rare day in this tournament where none of the Winnipeg Jets players were in action. The final day of the round robin was on Tuesday, with still most of the seeding to be determined. 6-0-0 Switzerland and 6-0-0 Finland battled for first place in Group A, and it was a close contest for most of the game. The host Swiss team won 4-2, securing the top seed in this competitive group. Niederreiter finished without a point, and Heinola picked up another assist. Canada already secured 1st place in group B, but they still had a strong showing as they battled back from down 2-0 to defeat Czechia 3-2. None of the three Canadian Jets players got a point in this game.
At the end of the round robin, Gabriel Vilardi was the top scorer among the five Jets players with 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points in 7 games. Scheifele started off slow, but finished his 7 games with 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points. DeMelo had just 1 assist, but he finished with a +6 and played strong defensively just as he does with the Jets. Heinola had a great round robin, scoring 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points with Finland. Niederreiter had a few good games on this talented Swiss team, finishing his round robin with 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points.
After a day off for all of the teams on Wednesday, the quarterfinals will begin on Thursday. The first pair of games features Finland vs. Czechia at Swiss Life Arena and Canada vs. USA at BCF Arena. The second pair of games features the undefeated Team Switzerland against Team Sweden at Swiss Life Arena, as well as two “surprisingly successful” teams in Norway vs. Latvia. The semi-finals will be on Saturday, followed by the championship game on Sunday, May 31st.
Up Next
Mark Scheifele, Dylan DeMelo, Gabriel Vilardi and Team Canada take on the rival Americans at 9:20 am CDT. Ville Heinola and Finland will be slight favourites against Team Czechia also at 9:20 am CDT. Nino Niederreiter and Team Switzerland’s quarterfinals will be against a young Swedish team at 11:20 am CDT. Norway and Latvia will also be playing at this time, as one of these teams will “unexpectedly” make the semi-finals after a strong round robin from both countries.
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