Checking in with Vojtech Cihar after an MVP-worthy performance at the 2026 World Junior Championships

If there was a standout play from this season’s World Junior Championships from an LA Kings perspective, it came in the semifinals, in a matchup between Canada and Czechia.

With the game tied at three midway through the third period, Kings prospect and Czech forward Vojtech Cihar took a pass at the offensive blueline, gaining the zone with possession. Using his skating and his frame, he made a powerful move to his right, shielding the puck around a defenseman as he drove the net aggressively. He took the puck onto his forehand with a little bit of space and his shot found the underside of the crossbar, into the back of the net for the go-ahead goal.

For a player in his breakout moment, it was the one of the biggest goals of the tournament, as it propelled Czechia into the gold-medal game,with a showcase of what Cihar can do with the puck on his stick.

“That’s the way I want to play like,” Cihar said, when speaking about that goal. “I’m just trying to go straight to the net, not making any special plays, be hard and try to maybe find my teammates. The way I played at the World Juniors is the way I want to play.”

VOJTECH CIHAR WITH A NASTY GOAL TO GIVE CZECHIA THE LEAD 😮 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/60pIyRDxCC

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 5, 2026

That goal was Cihar’s most impressive moment in a tournament filled with impressive moments.

At the conclusion of the 2026 World Junior Championships, Cihar was selected as the tournament’s most-valuable player after he led Team Czechia in scoring, on route to a silver medal. In total, no player who advanced to the gold-medal game collected more points than Cihar, who was an offensive force throughout the course of the event.

At the previous year’s tournament, Cihar was selected to the team as an underaged player, before his draft year, and played a small role on a team that advanced to the semifinals but lost, only to win the bronze-medal game to come home with some hardware. While he did not make nearly the same impact in that tournament, it was valuable experienced for Cihar, who said he came back a better and more confident player having known what to expect.

“It was really big because last year me and Adam Novotny were the youngest players on the team and we were there to play like the 12 and 13 [forward roles] on the team,” he said. “In this tournament just helped us a lot, because we knew what to expect from the coaches and from everybody on the staff. When had bigger roles than the last year, it helped us a lot.”

Whatever he did, it certainly worked.

Cihar finished the event with 12 points (4-8-12) from seven games played. He collected at least one point in all seven games and had four multi-point games, including the quarterfinals and semifinals. He capped it off with his place on the All-Tournament Team and the MVP award. The only thing missing was a gold medal, as Cihar and his teammates fell just short in the gold-medal game against Sweden, despite a late comeback that nearly changing that ending.

To win silver instead of bronze was a weird set of emotions for Cihar. It’s one place higher on the podium but it meant losing the last game of the tournament rather than win it. Bittersweet, but with time to reflect, he understood how special it was.

“Silver is better than the bronze, but you always want to win the last game,” he said. “In the first moments, it was just we were sad and everything like that but after maybe couple of days we just said that, okay, we lost but it’s second in the world. We were second in the world, so we need to just be happy for it, because it’s not happening all the time, you know? For me, it’s really good that we could compare us against such big, big teams like Canada or Sweden.”

Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The ending aside, World Juniors was the latest in a series of positives for Cihar.

Earlier this season, Cihar signed his entry-level contract with the Kings, after he was selected in the second round of the 2025 NHL Draft. He played regularly in the top Czech professional league before the tournament but decided to make a change in his development coming out of the tournament.

Cihar moved to North America to play in the WHL, as he joined the Kelowna Rockets, where he tallied five assists in his first three games played. Cihar pointed to a couple of reasons for making the move.

First things first, he believes that playing a year of junior hockey will help him to continue to develop the offensive side of his game. While he played regularly in Czechia, it was typically in a bottom-six role and in that country, that’s the top league. For the coaches and veterans playing in it, it’s not seen as a development league. They’re playing to win games, just like the Kings are.

The WHL is a bit different. It’s more open and has more of a focus on offense, while also having more time between games to focus on skill development.

“In the WHL, the coaches just want us to let us play and I think this is the main difference between Czech Elite League and the WHL,” he said. “It was pretty big step but I think I’m doing pretty well so far……I’m just trying to improve my skills on offense and it will help me a lot I think.”

The other reason?

Kelowna has a guaranteed place at the 2026 Memorial Cup as the tournament hosts. A quick look at the WHL’s standings would tell you they had a shot at reaching the tournament anyways, as a solid playoff team in the Western Conference. But, as tournament hosts, they are guaranteed a spot alongside the playoff champions from the OHL, WHL and QMJHL. That’s a hard experience to pass up on.

“It was a main thing why I moved from Czechia to Kelowna, because when I heard that Kelowna will host the Mem Cup, I was kind of like, okay, I’m more into it now,” Cihar said. “I’m looking forward to playing in the Mem Cup because I know it’s the biggest tournament in junior hockey in North America.”

So, you saw him on the biggest international stage at the junior level and now you’ll see him on the biggest stage in junior hockey in North America, coming soon in late-May.

Then, who knows.

Cihar has a lot of options beginning next season. He’ll attend his first rookie camp with the Kings in September, followed by his first main training camp. As a result of his season in Czechia having already started, he missed out on those opportunities last season. From there, who knows. Having signed his first NHL contract, he could play for the Kings if he made the team and he would also be eligible to play with the AHL’s Ontario Reign for the full season as a 19-year-old. He could play in the WHL with Kelowna or he could return overseas and play professionally in Europe. Wherever he plays, he’s got one more season of eligibility at the World Juniors as well, chasing that elusive gold medal.

Lots of time between now and then. When you do see him next, if you’re not familiar with who Vojtech Cihar is, what kind of hockey player does he expect you’ll be watching?

“I will just try to be a hard player, make some plays, go straight to the net, score the goals, be aggressive on the forecheck, team player,” he added. “I can play lots of roles, because all of my coaches said that I’m really coachable. Everything that the coach will say to me, I will try my best to do it for the team.”

Not a bad collection of attributes.

24 games remaining in the regular season for Kelowna, before they advance to the WHL playoffs. If you’re looking for some hockey to watch, beyond the Olympics, without a full schedule of NHL games for most of February, Cihar and the Rockets have several games on the calendar, so plenty of good chances to check him out if interested.