The 2022 IIHF World Junior Championships was highly anticipated as rosters were filled with more future NHL talent than usual.
Then COVID-19 reared its ugly head and an outbreak at the tournament last December forced the event to be cancelled. Many hockey players have had their dreams shattered, but some of these players are getting a chance to play at junior hockey’s most prestigious event.
Instead of starting on December 26, WJC 2022 will have a full restart today and will conclude on August 20.
When the event was cancelled, there were immediate talks of resuming play at a later date with the same age groups able to play again.
At the original event, several teams boasted elite rosters with many marquee names, but due to various circumstances, many players will not play at the December event. That means no Owen Power from the Buffalo Sabers, no Juraj Slafkovsky from the Montreal Canadiens, and no Shane Wright or Matty Beniers from the Seattle Kraken.
However, the departure of some of the best talent has opened the door to other prospects, including some drafted in the 2005 NHL Draft.
In December, Buffalo had arguably the best prospects at the event in Power, and it was a great opportunity for him to show he’s one of the best players not to be a full-time NHLer. Even without him, there will be plenty for Buffalo fans to do.
The most notable Sabers prospect at the event will be Isak Rosen of Sweden, who has been selected for the first round in 2021. With the diluted talent pool, Rosen will have an opportunity to showcase his scoring skills, which was a major key to Buffalo picking him 14th overall in 2021. His biggest competition will be on his own team for the season. If he can’t secure powerplay time against Fabian Lysell, Oskar Olausson and Jonathan Lekkerimaki, his scores could suffer.
While Rosen will be looking to fight for the spotlight against medal contenders Sweden, Linus Sjodin, Sabers’ contender, should just be happy to be there. Sjodin wasn’t originally picked for the squad in December but due to absences and injuries, the 2022 seventh-round pick finds himself in a Sweden team who could really go for gold against Canada.
The biggest missing part of the tournament is the Russian Federation, as it was banned from all IIHF events following the invasion of Ukraine and thus will not provide a showcase for the Sabers’ Russian prospects.
With Russia out, the remaining Sabers have a chance to keep tabs on Jiri Kulich from Czech Republic in 2022’s first round. Kulich starts all the action at 2pm today when the Czech Republic take on their ailing rivals Slovakia. With Slovaks Simon Nemec, Juraj Slafkovsky and Filip Mesar absent, Kulich should be the star of the show in the first game.
While the Czech squad brought most of their eligible players with them, the best player on the ice for Slovakia should be Adam Sykora, a New York Rangers second-round pick in 2022. The other notable name in the game for Slovakia is Dalibor Dvorsky who will be a top 10 pick in the 2023 draft?
The top two teams from Group A are likely to remain Canada and Finland, followed by the Czech Republic, Slovakia and finally Latvia.
Finland are bringing back most of their squad from December, but Canada should still come out on top, led by generational talent Connor Bedard. Bedard will be the first pick in the 2023 draft. He’s the best candidate ever to come out of western Canada and the best Canadian candidate since Connor McDavid. Everything Bedard has done since December has gotten better, and he will be a candidate for Tournament MVP because of it.
With no power in the way, Olen Zellweger will be a prime candidate to lead the Canadians off the blue line and Sebastian Cossa at the net makes the Canadians a front-runner for gold.
Almost every team has been weakened by subtraction since December, but none have been hurt worse than the United States. Instead of being a team on a collision course with Canada in the final, the USA could end up without a medal. The loss of talent like the Ottawa Senators’ Jake Sanderson and Kraken’s Beniers takes a serious toll on US star power. Luke Hughes is the United States’ most talented player at this tournament but it will be a tall order for him to lead this team to glory.
I predict Sweden to beat Canada in the gold medal game and Finland to beat Czech Republic in bronze.
My MVP prediction for the tournament is Sweden goalkeeper Jesper Wallstedt, the best defender will be Simon Edvinsson from Sweden and the best forward will be Mason McTavish from Canada. My prediction for the all-tournament team is Wallstedt as goalies, Edvinsson and Zellweger on defense, and McTavish, Bedard and Finn Brad Lambert on forward.