For Wild fans, there was a lot of excitement surrounding this matchup between Team USA and Team Russia, as it would pit three of Minnesota’s top prospects, Luke Kunin and Jordan Greenway for USA and Kirill Kaprizov for Russia, against one another for the first time. Kaprizov entered the game as the leading scorer in the tournament, with seven points in just two games, including a hat trick against Latvia. The dynamic forward, on pace for one of the best under-20 seasons in the history of the KHL, is a potential all-world player. When his current contract expires in Russia, the Wild organization will surely pull out all the stops to ensure that he gets signed to his entry-level deal immediately.
World Junior Hockey 2017: Team USA defeats Team Russia in first true test of tournament
