Too good for the World Juniors – here are the players you’ll miss in Buffalo
As usual, the World Juniors will be played without the best junior players in the world. They are already suiting up and making a difference in the NHL. Last year, 16 junior-aged players didn’t participate in the tournament in Montréal and Toronto due to their NHL status. This year, eleven players won’t show up in Buffalo for the same reason.
To no one’s surprise, Canada has suffered the most from this. Five of these eleven players would very likely have been key players on Dominique Ducharme’s team, but this is nothing new to Hockey Canada. Over the past several years, Canada has been forced to play without top talent. That hasn’t stopped them from winning quite a few championships.
Below, we walk you through the eleven NHL players that won’t show up in Buffalo for this year’s WJC:
Finland
Patrik Laine, fw, Winnipeg
Jesse Puljujärvi, fw, Edmonton
Comment: Two years ago, these two top prospects had amazing chemistry with Sebastian Aho, led the tournament in scoring and won gold in front of an ecstatic home crowd in Hartwall Arena, Helsinki. Last year, Laine was already a star in the NHL, scoring 36 goals in Winnipeg as a rookie, while the Edmonton Oilers thought Puljujärvi would be better served playing in the AHL than helping Finland at the WJC in Montréal. Obviously, the Finns had no hope of getting them released this season either. They can find solace in the fact that they seem to have a team good enough to win gold without Laine and Puljujärvi.
Sweden
Jesper Bratt, fw, New Jersey
Comment: Talk about a surprise! It’s only been a year since the Swedish coaching staff didn’t consider Bratt good enough to be on the WJC roster. And now, he’s deemed too important to an NHL team to be loaned to the Swedish team. That could be viewed as revenge for a player that has taken enormous steps in his career this past year. For the Swedes, it’s quite the loss. The team has a lot of strengths, but beside Elias Pettersson and Alexander Nylander, they lack some of that high-end talent offensively that the Finns and the Americans can boast of.
Canada
Samuel Girard, d, Colorado
Jakob Chychrun, d, Arizona
Nolan Patrick, c, Philadelphia
Tyson Jost, c, Colorado
Pierre-Luc Dubois, c, Columbus
Comment: These players might not be budding super stars in the NHL, but at the World Juniors they would certainly have put some fear in the Canadian opponents. Jost and Dubois were both part of last year’s team in Montréal, where they lost to the Americans in the gold-medal game after a nerve-wrecking shootout. At that time, Chychrun was already playing with the Coyotes in the NHL while injury prevented Patrick from participating. The three centers is surely missed in a Canadian squad, that seem to lack the top-end talent usually associated with their WJC teams.
Russia
Mikhail Sergachyov, d, Tampa Bay
Comment: Sergachyov was in the line-up last year, as the Russians picked up a bronze medal after defeating Sweden in the medal game. As he was fast to claim a spot on the Tampa Bay blueline this season, it was obvious he wouldn’t be released for the World Juniors this time. That’s too bad for the Russians. . Although tough to asses, the Russian defense doesn’t look as strong as the other top nations’ backends in this year’s tourney.
Switzerland
Nico Hischier, c, New Jersey
Comment: If you are the first overall pick in the NHL entry draft, the chance you’ll play in the WJC the next season is non-existent. Nico Hischier is no exception to that “rule”. No one in Switzerland or anywhere else expected Hischier to be available to return and play in his second straight tournament. It’s a pity in the sense that Hischier was one of the most pleasant and entertaining surprises last year. And in all honesty, the Swiss team lacks luster without him on their roster.
USA
Clayton Keller, fw, Arizona
Comment: Keller was among the best players when the US won gold at last year’s tournament. That’s when you first got the sense that this kid might be on the fast track to the NHL. That feeling became even more evident at the World Championships in Cologne in May, where Keller was one of the better Americans while mostly playing with and against NHL competition. During this season, Keller has been among the top rookies in the NHL, despite playing on a mediocre Arizona team. His early success gave a clear indication he would never get the chance to compete for a second straight gold medal at the WJC in Buffalo.