St. Louis Blues Prospects Niko Mikkola, Dmitrii Sergeev to Face Off in WJC Gold Medal Game

Two young defensemen from the St. Louis Blues organization will face off in Tuesday’s gold medal game.

With the St. Louis Blues now on a three-game losing streak, things are a bit gloomy at the NHL level. On the bright side, though, the future of the organization looks bright. Defensemen Dmitrii Sergeev (Russia) and Niko Mikkola (Finland), the two healthy Blues prospects that participated in the 2016 World Junior Championships in Helsinki, Finland, have both advanced to the tournament’s gold medal game with their respective teams and will battle for the championship on Tuesday.

Sergeev, a 6-foot-3, 200-pounder who usually plays for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League, has no points, a minus-3 rating, and eight shots on goal through six games for Russia. The Blues signed the 19-year-old Sergeev to an entry-level contract as an undrafted free agent last fall. In 25 games for Kitchener in 2015-16, Sergeev has two goals, 11 assists, 24 penalty minutes, and a plus-7 rating.

Mikkola, a 6-foot-4, 185-pounder who was a sixth-round pick in the 2015 draft, has one assist, four penalty minutes, and a plus-4 rating through six games. Through 31 games for KalPa Kuopio of SM-liiga this season, Mikkola has two goals, two assists, eight penalty minutes, and a minus-2 rating.

Canadian defensemen Vince Dunn and Jake Walman and American goaltender Luke Opilka were all scheduled to appear in the tournament as well. Unfortunately, Dunn (wrist), Walman (shoulder), and Opilka (undisclosed illness) were all forced to withdraw from the tournament, and their countries experienced disappointing results without them.

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The gold medal game of the World Junior Championships can be seen Tuesday on NHL Network at 12:30 PM.