Each year, the U20 World Junior Championship gives us a look at the future of the NHL, including many of the world’s best prospects. While this is often a tournament that belongs to the 19 year olds, especially for the top contenders, there are always younger players that make their mark as well. More than anything, the tournament is volatile, where anything could happen, and the only guarantee is that we will be surprised, one way or another.
With that being said let’s take a look over the teams in Group A, featuring three perennial medalists in Canada, Sweden, and Finland, as well as two central European programs from the rise in Germany and Latvia.
Canada
Given that our Edmonton Oilers focused blog is based in Canada, as well as the roster’s NHL draft pedigree, the knowledge of the readership is much more complete and nuanced around Canada than it is for other teams. Storylines will be under a greater microscope, and the minutia of the day to day explored to a much greater extent. For now, a brief overview will suffice. Naturally the lineup is star studded from top to bottom, but there are some generalities we can apply to the roster at large.
Up front Canada has a group defined by NHL qualities, with a lot of players who effect both offence and defence. There are some players with NHL games this season, between Matthew Poitras and Fraser Minten, both who are some of the many options the team will have at centre, including Connor Geekie, Owen Beck, and roughly two-thirds of Canada’s forwards.
In the end it might be the 2024 NHL draft’s presumptive first overall pick in Macklin Celebrini who shines brightest. Although as a younger player on a deep roster the expectations should be tempered, Celebrini is excelling at the NCAA level, just as Adam Fantilli was for the team last year. Though the group has a clear focus on size, the skill is abundant, and smaller players such as Matthew Savoie, Jordan Dumais, and Easton Cowan are still represented.
The theme of size continues on the back end, with a group that emphasises defensive traits much more than the bluelines of other top teams. Still, Canada is not without skill on the back end. Tristan Luneau was set to join as a player who has NHL experience this season for the Anaheim Ducks, though due to injury has been replaced by Ty Nelson, offering some strong puck moving skills, as do Denton Mateychuck and Tanner Molendyk. To balance, Oliver Bonk features on a defensive right side, with the impressive physicalities of Mavrik Lamoureux and Noah Warren.
Sweden
As always, Sweden figures to be among the top teams of the tournament. In recent years they have dominated group play, but failed to carry the same level of success into the knockout rounds. At the very least, this year’s team will have as good a chance as any at a gold medal. The roster is chock full of talent, and notable for a heavy slew of right shot defencemen, one of which is Mattias Havelid, whose twin brother Hugo Havelid is likely the team’s starting goalie. The team is coached by their uncle, though both players are worthy of their prospective roles as key contributors.
The blueline might be the strength of the team, among the best units in the tournament along with that of team USA. With a lot of puck skills, the Swedes offer a fairly well rounded blueline outside of their skewed handedness. Axel Sandin-Pellikka has had a great D+1 season, and might be the foremost offensive option, while Elias Pettersson (the younger) profiles as the most defensive minded. Without naming the entire roster, it suffices to say there is very little to hold against the group.
There is a lot of firepower up front, and Sweden’s top-nine forwards might go toe-to-toe with any team tournament wide. A line that played so well together in their draft seasons, Noah Ostlund centres Liam Ohgren, and Jonathan Lekkerimaki. While fantastic players in their own right, their chemistry might give them a leg up on nearly all others in this tournament, save for the Americans unit of Gabe Perrault, Will Smith, and Ryan Leonard. Former first-round picks David Edstrom, Otto Stenberg, and Filip Bystedt are primed to star at this tournament as well, though Sweden should have a formidable top nine with the skilled Anton Wahlberg and Felix Unger Sorum, as well as the sandpaper of Fabian Wagner.
The only draft eligible players on this team are players who have already gone undrafted, including goalie Hugo Havelid, defenceman Jakob Noren, and forward Isac Born. Havelid might be the most impactful in this tournament should he carry the load as the starter.
To contrast against the Canadians, Sweden should be every bit as strong a team. Canada might have the edge in forward depth, near impossible to pick who should play lower in the lineup, while Sweden might have the edge on the blueline.
Finland
The Finns may lack a true star on paper, but have a deep team for this year’s tournament, featuring a blend of skill sets. Joakim Kemell, who might be primed for a staring role, was withheld from the team to continue his season in the AHL.
The Finns have a fairly deep forward group, filled with defensively sound centres and wingers with specialised skill sets. The scoring on the wings might be led by big skilled players like Jani Nyman, Kasper Halttunen, or Lenni Hameenaho. Each of the three provides some dimension on top of their scoring including Halttunen’s physicality and shot, as well as Hameenaho’s ability to navigate high traffic areas, like the net front. Rasmus Kumpulainen and Aleksanteri Kaskimaki profile as versatile and responsible forwards who should help give the Finns a defensive framework to help handle the tournament’s top teams.
Most interesting of all might be Konsta Helenius, a consensus top 10 pick for the 2024 NHL draft at this point, a centre with a huge frame, responsible disposition, and high end offensive skills. Leo Carlsson shone at last year’s tournament, and continues to do so in the NHL this season. Carlsson has set a high bar, but Helenius has the skills and opportunity to equal Carlsson’s performance from last year’s tournament. Emil Hemming is projected to go in the 2024 first-round as well, and should be a strong contributor to Finland’s top nine in this tournament.
On the blueline the Finns will be without 2024 draft eligible Aron Kiviharju, a talented but polarising prospect who is injured. The Finns miss his potential game breaking offensive abilities, as Arttu Karki will likely feature as the team’s top offensive option. The Finns do have a lot of size, mobility, and professional experience on their blueline, meaning that their effectiveness is likely to outweigh their name brand value.
Niklas Kokko, a 2023 second-round pick, leads a trio of goalies that are already playing in professional leagues. Noa Vali is expected to be the backup, while 2024 draft eligible Eemil Vinni might be in line to play a bigger role next year.
In all, teams should be wary of the Finns. With a lot of professional experience, more than most teams at this tournament, the Finns should be quite sound. The forward group has a lot of skill, and a flare of draft eligible potential, a combination that makes them quite dangerous to opponents.
Germany
The Germans have continued to produce a handful high level NHL prospects in general, but the group will be without such appeal at this year’s tournament. There are three NHL drafted prospects on the roster, forwards Julian Lutz and Kevin Bicker, as well as defenceman Norwin Panocha. All three will have to be instrumental for Germany to pull off a strong performance.
There might be some under the radar offence in the forward group, as a number of players are already playing in the top German professional league, the DEL. Roman Ketcher leads this group in production, though Eric Hordler, Veit Oswald, and Moritz Elias all might be able to further prove themselves against competition their own age.
The blueline has a number of players in the DEL as well, including a 2024 draft eligible in Paul Mayer. Mayer, as should be expected, has not been able to post impressive scoring totals in the DEL, but could certainly make a name for himself with a strong tournament. At the very least Mayer should be an integral part of future German teams at this tournament, but he might well find himself in conversations for the middle rounds of the 2024 NHL draft by the end of the tournament.
Simon Wolf is expected to be the starting goalie, and should expect to be quite busy in the tournament. Needless to say the Germans will be massive underdogs for most of the round robin, and that a match up against Latvia will be crucial to both teams.
Latvia
In general, Latvia has had a successful run of hockey on the world stage over the past few years. This tournament might prove to be tough to keep that level of success going, as many would argue that Latvia are the underdogs of the tournament along with Group B’s Norway.
At the very least, the Latvians have two NHL affiliated players on this roster, forward Sandis Vilmanis, and captain Dans Locmelis. Both have come to North America to develop, like many of the top players on this team, including 2024 NHL draft eligible Eriks Mateiko, who is scoring above a point per game pace in the QMJHL this season. All three will be charged with generating enough offence for the team to pull off an upset or two in the coming weeks.
Deivs Rolovs put up spectacular numbers in the top Latvian league last season before coming to North America this season. He should be the starter, as Linards Feldberg and Aksels Ozols are both a year younger. Rolovs will need to be the Latvian’s best player should they hope to hang in against tougher competition, and ultimately if the team is to avoid relegation.
Photo from @HockeyCanada on Twitter
