Introduction

Not only does Christmastime bring joy and cheer, it also brings the World Junior Hockey Championships. This year, 10 different countries will compete in two separate divisions in Vancouver, BC. The preliminary round games will start today, December 26^th, and the playoffs will start on January 2^nd. You can find the full schedule and TV listings at this link: https://www.nhl.com/info/nhl-network-wjc-schedule. All games listed will be on NHL NETWORK.

Groups / Structure

The 10 different countries are being split into two groups: Group A and Group B.

Group A	Group B
Canada	Finland
Czech Republic	Kazakhstan
Denmark	Slovakia
Russia	Sweden
Switzerland	United States

The top four teams in each group will advance to the playoffs, while the bottom team in each division will play in a best-of-three playoff determining who will be relegated. The structure of the playoffs is as followed:  the team with the most points in group A will face the team with the fourth amount of points in group B and so on and so forth. There will be three different medals given at the conclusion of the tournament: gold (1^st place), silver (2^nd place), and bronze (3^rd place).

Players to Watch

Below are players from each country that’ll certainly be worth watching. Rosters in this tournament are made up of hockey players who are 20 or younger. Most have either already been drafted, or eligible for upcoming NHL-entry drafts. The players that are listed below are 2019 NHL-entry draft eligible or New Jersey Devils draftees.

* – data was drawn from preliminary rosters for some teams, meaning some players listed may not be on teams’ final rosters. These players are marked.

Canada:

Last Name	First   Name	Number	Height/ Weight	Position	Current Projection	League	Other Notes (if applicable):
Leason	Brett	20	6’4” / 200	Center	Mid-2nd round	WHL
Smith	Ty	24	5’11”/ 174	Defense	NJD ’18 (1,17)	WHL	Projected top-pair defenseman for Team Canada.

 

Denmark

Last Name	First   Name	Number	Height/ Weight	Position	Current Projection	League	Other Notes (if applicable):
Mads	Søgaard	N/a	6’7” / 196	Goalie	4th round	WHL	Projected to be Denmark’s starter.

 

Russia

Last Name	First   Name	Number	Height/ Weight	Position	Current Projection	League	Other Notes (if applicable):
Podkolzin	Vasily	N/a	6’1” / 190	Right Wing	Top 10	MHL

 

Switzerland

Last Name	First   Name	Number	Height/ Weight	Position	Current Projection	League	Other Notes (if applicable):
Schmid	Akira	N/a	6’5” / 205	Goalie	NJD ’18 (5,136)	USHL	Projected to be Switzerland’s starter.

 

Finland

Last Name	First   Name	Number	Height/ Weight	Position	Current Projection	League	Other Notes (if applicable):
Heinola	Ville	N/a	5’11” / 165	Defense	Late 3rd round	Liiga	May not be on the final roster.
Honka	Anttoni	N/a	5’10” / 170	Defense	Late 1st round	Liiga	May not be on the final roster. Brother to NHL-defenseman Julius Honka.
Kakko	Kaapo	24	6’1” / 181	Right Wing	2nd overall	Liiga
Kokkonen	Mikko	35	5’11”/ 190	Defense	2nd round	Liiga	May not be on the final roster.
Talvitie	Aarne	25	5’10” / 198	Center	NJD ’17 (6,150)	NCAA	One of Penn State’s top scorers.
Thomson	Lassi	33	6’0” / 187	Defense	2nd round	WHL	May not be on the final roster.

 

Kazakhstan

Last Name	First   Name	Number	Height / Weight	Position	Current Projection	League	Other Notes (if applicable):
Guseinov	Dias	N/a	6’0” / 146	Forward	Undrafted	MHL

 

Slovakia

Last Name	First   Name	Number	Height/ Weight	Position	Current Projection	League	Other Notes (if applicable):
Cajkovic	Maxim	N/a	5’11”	LW / RW	2nd round	QMJHL

 

Sweden

Last Name	First   Name	Number	Height/ Weight	Position	Current Projection	League	Other Notes (if applicable):
Broberg	Phillip	25	6’3” / 198	Defense	Top 15	AIK
Fagemo	Samuel	11	5’11”/ 190	LW / RW	Late Round	SHL	May not be on final roster.
Zetterlund	Fabian	28	5’11” / 196	Right Wing	NJD ’17 (3,63)	SHL

 

United States

Last Name	First   Name	Number	Height/ Weight	Position	Current Projection	League	Other Notes (if applicable):
Hughes	Jack	6	5’10” / 168	Center	1st overall	US U18 Team
Knight	Spencer	29	6’3” / 200	Goalie	Late-1st round / Early-2nd round	WHL	Projected to backup to Cayden Primeau.

The Devils have four prospects taking part in the tournament. The most intriguing may be Finnish-captain Aarne Talvitie. The Devils have created magic in the late rounds recently, with picks Jesper Bratt and Brett Seney already playing at the NHL level. Ty Smith and Fabian Zetterlund both are projected to play valuable roles for their respective countries, while goaltender Akira Schmid should get an extensive look between the pipes for Switzerland.

As you can see above, there are also plenty of 2019 NHL-entry draft eligible players in this tournament. If things do not change quickly for the New Jersey Devils, a lottery pick looks inevitable. Luckily for the club, they’ll get to start scouting in this tournament as Jack Hughes, Kakko Kaapo, Vasily Podkolzin, and Phillip Broberg are all currently lottery-projected selections.

Along with the lottery-projected selections are many more notable prospects. Slovakian winger Maxim Cajkovic is currently projected as an early-2^nd round selection. However, many are predicting with a great showing he can sky-rocket up the draft rankings. More prospects worth keeping close eyes on are goaltenders Spencer Knight and Mads Søgaard. Being a backup, Knight may not get too much of a look, but 6’7” Søgaard is projected to get the majority of minutes for Denmark. With goaltending being such a question, these two are definitely worth following.

Prediction

Group A: Canada, Russia, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Denmark

Group B: USA, Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Kazakhstan

Gold: USA / Silver: Canada / Bronze: Finland

Relegation Winner: Denmark