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 26th, and the playoffs will start on January 2nd. 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 (1st place), silver (2nd place), and bronze (3rd 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-2nd 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