The 2024 World Junior Championship is set to begin in under a week and I can hardly wait for the games to start on December 26. This tournament is a bright spot in the hockey world’s calendar each year as the best U20 players from around the world come together and give us nearly two weeks of exciting hockey, back-to-back-to-back.
There are always some great storylines to monitor such as Connor Bedard’s emergence as a borderline generational talent or the dominant play of Adam Gajan out of seemingly nowhere that we saw at last year’s tournament.
Today I’m going to be outlining 10 storylines to keep an eye on as the tournament gets set to start next week, from a reunion that could lead Sweden to the Gold to the 2024 draft eligible players most likely to have significant impacts for their nations this year. Let’s jump right in with number one.
1. Sweden Looking Dangerous Again
After a few disappointing tournaments in a row (just one medal, a bronze, in the last three years), Sweden looks to be back in a big way. The hosts have an incredibly deep forward group with excellent playmakers like Noah Ostlund and Felix Unger Sörum, snipers like Jonathan Lekkerimaki, and hard working playdrivers like Liam Öhgren and David Edstrom.
Related: Guide to the 2024 World Junior Championship
Sweden also has a really strong top-four defensive group, highlighted by Axel Sandin Pellikka who currently leads all SHL defenseman in goals despite being just 18 years old himself. This age group has a track record of success, winning the 2022 U18 World Championship and winning silver at the 2023 tourney as well. Sweden just might be the team to beat this year so watch out!
2. Wide Open Race for Leading Scorer
The very best players eligible for this year’s tournament are so good in fact that they are competing in the NHL rather than against junior competition. Team Canada will be missing Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli, Team USA will be missing Logan Cooley, and Sweden will be without Leo Carlsson. Any one of those players would be the favorite to lead the tournament in scoring if they joined the competition, but with them sitting out this year, the focus shifts to the next group of talent.
Jiri Kulich will have a good chance to lead the tournament, coming off of a strong tournament last year and a point per game start to the season in the American Hockey League (AHL). Cutter Gauthier is another contender as Team USA’s top line center who will get every chance to score on the powerplay. Finally, Jonathan Lekkerimäki strikes me as someone who could compete for the tournament lead in points as he continues to build on a strong playoff run in the Allsvenskan last season.
3. Matthew Poitras Joins Canada from Bruins
It was announced Monday morning that Boston Bruins rookie Matthew Poitras would be joining team Canada for the World Juniors after spending the first few months of the season in the NHL. He was someone who was expected to be in contention for a spot on Canada’s roster at the start of the season, but a strong showing in the NHL’s preseason games earned him a full time spot on the Bruins’ roster.
It seemed unlikely he would join Canada back in October but his production in the NHL has slowed down a bit and the Bruins are interested in giving him a chance to dominate some games against junior competition and build up his confidence before bringing him back into the fold. The Bruins are firmly in a playoff spot and can afford to lose a quality middle-six piece for a few weeks, especially since they will get him back well in advance of their playoff push. Poitras projects to be a huge boost for Canada’s top six forward group as a two way center with more NHL experience than anyone else in the tournament.
4. Underaged Players to Make Big Impacts
There are always a few draft eligible prospects who crack their respective World Junior Championship teams, but this year’s group looks particularly strong. Konsta Helenius is likely to be a top-six forward for Finland after a scorching start to the season in the Finnish Liiga, and I expect Macklin Celebrini to be an important piece for Team Canada after he looked like their best player throughout Hockey Canada’s selection camp.
It’s not fair to expect Celebrini to have the type of offensive impact we saw from Connor Bedard last year, but I’m confident he’ll provide more defensive value than Bedard did while chipping in some offense of his own. Michael Brandsegg-Nygård will be a crucial piece for Norway in their attempt to stave off relegation, Emil Hemming should get some bottom-six minutes for Finland, and both Zeev Buium and Adam Jiricek have chances to be top-four defenders for Teams USA and Czechia respectively.
5. Otto Stenberg’s International Track Record
Over the last few years, Otto Stenberg has cultivated a reputation for playing his best hockey in a Team Sweden jersey. At last year’s U18 World Championship, Stenberg scored a video game-like seven goals and 16 points in just seven games. Across all international play last season, he finished with 17 goals and 32 points in 19 games.
While all of that came against U18 competition and he is now facing significantly older and stronger opponents, his skill with the puck and his uncanny ability to maintain puck possession against pressure should make him an absolute pest for opposing nations in Sweden’s bottom-six forward group. Expect to hear his name a lot, even if he’s not lighting up the score sheet.
6. Norway’s First Appearance in 10 years
Norway is the newest member of the World Junior Championship’s top level, earning promotion last year after an undefeated run through the Division I World Junior Championship. This will be their first appearance in the top level of junior competition since the 2014 tournament which was also hosted by Sweden. However, they were immediately relegated upon arrival, only lasting one year in the top division.
If Norway is to fight back relegation and stick in the top division of this tournament for the first time in their history, they will either need to earn at least one win in the group play (meaning a win against one of Czechia, Slovakia, USA, or Switzerland) or will need to win the relegation round against the last place team of the opposing group (most likely Latvia or Germany). 2024 draft eligible prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygård is going to be a hugely important player for Norway, though it’s not fair to expect him to single-handedly avoid relegation as an 18-year-old.
7. Can Latvia Keep Their Momentum?
2023 was an incredible year for the Latvian Hockey Federation, winning the bronze medal at the Men’s World Championships. This was their first ever medal in the tournament, and it came in the year where Riga, Latvia was one of the tournament’s two host cities. The atmosphere in Riga was phenomenal and the celebration following their shocking overtime upset against Team USA in the bronze medal game was a sight to behold.
Related: 6 Bold Predictions for the 2024 World Juniors
While this has been a great year for Latvian hockey, their U20 men’s team is going to be in tough if they want to do some damage at this year’s tournament. They are in Group A which consists of Canada, Sweden, Finland, and Germany, meaning they will need a lot of things to go right if they want to place any higher than fourth in the group. Latvia has been a pest in the recent past at this tournament and are never an easy out, so here’s to hoping they can keep the good times rolling, even just a bit.
8. What can the Swiss Do Without Lian Bichsel?
Lian Bichsel had a positive start to his rookie year in the AHL this Fall, putting up seven points in 16 games. However, he decided to exercise a clause in his contract that allowed him to return to Sweden for the remainder of the season where he will play with Rögle BK on a loan. This sort of try-out clause is meant to offer a player the chance to see if he’s ready for North America both on and off the ice, and it also gives Bichsel the chance to work on some areas of his game that need further development while closer to his support system so he can return to the AHL better than ever next September.
Despite his return to Europe, Bichsel has elected not to join Switzerland’s U20 team at this year’s tournament, leaving them without their best U20 player as they jockey with Norway for the fourth spot in Group B. I think Daniil Ustinkov (2024 draft eligible) could be a real player for Switzerland after a solid start to the year across both of the top two Swiss professional leagues, but this team is going to be interesting to monitor.
9. Will the Djurgårdens Line Lead Sweden to Victory?
The line of Liam Öhgren, Noah Ostlund, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki rose to prominence in their draft year as a dominant line in the Djurgårdens system where they dominated the J20 Nationell. Each of them were taken in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft and look like strong NHL prospects.
They have each gone their separate ways in the SHL since being drafted, but the chances are good that they’ll be reunited at this tournament as a trio of talented players who have tons of established chemistry can be incredibly valuable in such a short tournament. While Sweden will have a wide variety of offensive weapons this year, it seems like a safe bet to expect we’ll get at least a few chances to see this dominant junior line play together one last time.
10. Will Adam Gajan Repeat as the Tournament’s Top Goalie?
Adam Gajan was one of the biggest surprises in last year’s tournament, going from a near afterthought as Slovakia’s third-string goalie to being named the best goalie of the tournament. Thanks to Gajan, Slovakia very nearly completed the upset against Canada in the quarterfinals, but Bedard’s brilliant overtime goal was just unstoppable. Gajan had a remarkable 53 saves on 57 shots in that game alone, earning him a ton of draft attention.
Gajan is returning this year, just six months after being drafted by Bedard’s Chicago Blackhawks in the second round of the 2023 Draft. Will he be able to replicate last year’s heroics and earn back-to-back goaltender of the year honors? I like his chances given the lack of a true superstar in net for any of the other teams except perhaps the United States who have the tandem of Jacob Fowler and Trey Augustine in net.