The Hockey World Cup not only gives us the opportunity to see NHL stars represent their home countries. Here we also get the chance to see new stars being born. In this year’s tournament, there are a lot of exciting names to keep an eye on. Here, Uffe Bodin lists ten players who are worth keeping an eye on.
As the Hockey World Cup squads have been unveiled, it has become apparent that overall there will be more talent than established NHL stars to look forward to in the tournament. Many young NHL players happily choose to come to the Czech Republic and brighten the World Cup with their presence, but there are also a lot of exciting names that have not yet fully established themselves in the league.
They are what this list revolves around.
In order not to make a too “NHL-ified” list, we have applied the rookie rule in the same league. If you have played more than 25 NHL games, you lose your rookie status. Same thing here. If you have played more than 25 matches, you are disqualified. This means that players like Connor Bedard, Luke Hughes, Olen Zellweger, Lucas Raymond and Juraj Slafkovsky do not take place here.
In addition to that, we have drawn a line at the age of 22. The list therefore only applies to players born in 2002 or later. Are there still enough players left to make such a list? Yes actually. See the result below.
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Age: 21
Club: Tucson Roadrunners (AHL)
Drafted: Arizona Coyotes (Sixth Round 2023)
2023 was indeed a mighty year for Maksymilian Szuber. The Polish-born defender won German league gold with EHC Munich, was awarded an NHL contract with the Arizona Coyotes and then was part of the German World Cup team that sensationally made it all the way to the World Cup final and took silver. This season has been spent in North America, and there the solid defender has made a fine impression in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners. He was also rewarded with an NHL debut at the very end of the regular season. In this German World Cup edition, he is expected to play an important role with a lot of playing time, not least in defensive situations. With his size and physique, he will bear great responsibility in box play.
Maksymilian Szuber won World Cup silver with Germany last year. Photo: Bildbyrån
Age: 18
Club: Färjestad BK (SHL)
Drafted: Available this summer
Norwegian hockey is moving. Everyone who has followed Mora IK this season has understood that something is regarding to happen. In the past, far too many of the Norwegian players who came to Sweden, whether it was the SHL or the Hockeyallsvenskan, found it difficult to adapt to the physical demands made here. Now we have seen several examples of this not being the case anymore. Stian Solberg will have the chance to prove it next season when he aspires to a place in Färjestad following joining from Vålerengen. The big, physical defender has been making a name for himself since he debuted in the Norwegian league as a 15-year-old and now gets the chance to make his World Cup debut, just 18 years old. Expected to go already in the second round of the NHL draft this summer. It is remarkable because it has only happened once before that a Norwegian player has done it. 2002 when the Dallas Stars selected FBK acquaintance Marius Holtet as the 42nd player.
Stian Solberg debuts in the hockey World Cup at just 18 years old. Photo: Bildbyrån
Age: 19
Club: HV71 (SHL)
Drafted: Seattle Kraken (Second Round 2023)
The Dane took a big and nice step in his development in Sweden last season. After coming in as a complementary player during his U18 year, he became a full member of the HV71 and also tripled his scoring output. Fisker Mølgaard’s great strength is his mature two-way game. That he’s actually this reliable defensively this early in his career is a good omen. There may be question marks as to the extent to which he will produce points if he makes it to the NHL, but the responsibility means that he might very well have a future as a third center in the league. Now gets the chance to play his second straight World Cup and will reasonably be given a more prominent role than was the case last year. The Danish squad is not immediately full of strong centers.
Oskar Fisker Mølgaard took a big step in his development with the HV71 this season. Photo: Bildbyrån
Age: 19
Club: Michigan State University (NCAA)
Drafted: Detroit Red Wings (Second Round 2023)
There are probably some Swedish JVM players who still have nightmares regarding Trey Augustine. He may not have been the absolute best in the JVM final in Gothenburg in January, but he made important saves at the right times and thus ensured that the star-studded American team had the conditions to break the tie. As the USA currently only has Detroit goalkeeper Alex Lyon along with Augustine, there seems to be a good chance that he will actually get the chance to play in the Czech Republic. It is difficult to predict the development curve of goaltenders because they generally need more time than outfielders to be “ready”, but from what Trey Augustine has shown so far, most things indicate that he has a great future in the NHL.
Age: 18
Club: Mora IK (Hockeyallsvenskan)
Drafted: Available this summer
Norway’s greatest talent of all time?
Yes, at least based on how he ranks before the NHL draft this summer. Michael Brandsegg-Nygård is by all accounts writing history this summer as he becomes the first Norwegian ever to be selected in the first round. It is a huge success for Norway as a hockey nation. That he now gets the chance to step in and play a World Cup with arguably the best Norwegian player of all time in the 18-year-old Mats Zuccarello should not be downplayed. There is a strong symbolism in it. Brandsegg-Nygård had a very nice development in Mora during the course of the season and played his best hockey in the Allsvenskan playoffs, where his overtime goal once morest AIK in the fifth quarter-final really left an impression.
Michael Brandsegg-Nygård during the JVM in Gothenburg. Photo: Alamy/TT
Age: 18
Club: Leksands IF (SHL)
Drafted: Carolina Hurricanes (Second Round 2023)
Carolina Hurrcianes will likely come across as terrifyingly smart in a few years when Felix Unger Sörum reaches his full potential. Some thought the club was a long shot when they picked up the smart forward in the second round last summer. But he has used this season to prove that he possesses an extraordinary talent. The skating gets some criticism, but his game sense makes up for it. Already last fall, Unger Sörum gave the Hurricanes a headache when he performed so well at the camp that they seriously considered keeping him in the NHL. Now there was a return to Leksand, where he got to grow into the SHL suit in a good way, and then a nice JVM with the Junior crowns in Gothenburg. The fact that he now faces the possibility of playing in the WC as a junior is as sensational as when Leo Carlsson joined the squad as an 18-year-old last year. Nobody might have imagined that before the season – and that says a lot regarding the kind of talent we’re dealing with here.
Felix Unger Sörum was a standout player for Sweden at the JVM. Photo: Bildbyrån
Age: 17
Club: Jukurit (League)
Drafted: Available this summer
JVM.
U18-VM.
And now the “big” WC.
Finnish big talent Konsta Helenius becomes the first player since Jack Hughes (2019) to take part in all three tournaments (although Helenius wasn’t particularly happy regarding having to take part in the U18 tournament on home ice recently). He is also the youngest player of all time to take a place in a Finnish World Cup squad. Only three Finnish U18 players have managed to get into a WC team: Reijo Ruotsalainen, Patrik Laine and Kaapo Kakko. Not bad company. His 36 points in 51 games in Liiga have also only been surpassed by three players of the same age: Aleksander Barkov (48), Mikael Granlund (40) and Kakko (38). What then makes the 17-year-old from such a cherished promise? First of all, the perception of the game, but also the desire to compete for every puck. Despite never being the biggest player on the ice, he doesn’t shy away from the heat. He also takes responsibility in both directions, which is not the norm for such a young player. Hopefully, Jukka Jalonen gives the youngster every opportunity to show his best side in the Czech Republic.
Konsta Helenius under JVM in Gothenburg. Photo: Alamy/TT
Age: 19
Club: Boston College (NCAA)
Drafted: Washington Capitals (First Round 2023)
He has already managed to win gold at the U18 WC and JVM in the last year or so, so why not secure a triple in the Czech Republic? Ryan Leonard is a prolific scorer who netted 31 goals in 41 games in his first season with Boston College and impressed with his uncompromising style of play and relentless attitude. Many consider him ready for NHL play right now, but by all accounts he will return to school this fall and do one more season before turning pro and pleasing the Washington Capitals with his presence. Maybe a successful WC can change his attitude if he discovers how much fun it is to play once morest men.
Ryan Leonard silences the home crowd during the JVM in Gothenburg. Photo: Bildbyrån
Age: 21
Club: Iowa Wild (AHL)
Drafted: Minnesota Wild (2021 First Round)
The Minnesota Wild are testing Jesper Wallstedt’s patience right now. There is no doubt that he is the club’s future first-choice goalkeeper, but it looks like it will be some time before he gets the chance to prove it in earnest. After extending the contract with Filip Gustavsson last year and then signing a new contract with Marc-André Fleury recently, there is no straight path to the NHL for the guy who has been called the greatest Swedish goaltending talent of all time. However, this season proved to be good for Västeråssonen’s development curve. He got to play 45 AHL games and see a lot of rubber on a mediocre farm team in Iowa, and on top of that make his NHL debut with the Wild. The debut – a grim 2-7 loss once morest Dallas in January – was certainly not a highlight, but the last two starts resulted in wins and, among other things, a shutout once morest Chicago last month. Jesper Wallstedt is on the right track and it is not at all out of the question that he can snatch the first spade in the WC from the slightly older and more experienced Gustavsson and Samuel Ersson.
Jesper Wallstedt makes his second hockey WC for Tre Kronor. Photo: Bildbyrån
Age: 19
Club: Boston College (NCAA)
Drafted: San Jose Sharks (First Round 2023)
Last year’s draft pick has been forced to live in Macklin Celebrini’s shadow – and will probably continue to do so even on the day his NHL career begins. Although Will Smith led the NCAA in scoring this season with 71 points, it was Celebrini, playing for rival Boston University, who grabbed the headlines, being named the college league’s top player and receiving the Hobey Baker Award. Now that the San Jose Sharks went and won the draft lottery the other night, it became more or less clear that they will select the same Celebrini with the first pick of the summer. Arguably, he’ll be the team’s No. 1 center in the future, and Smith gets to take on the role of a Scottie Pippen to Michael Jordan, to use an extreme NBA analogy. But Will Smith won’t have to despair for that. He is such a skilled center that he has the potential to become a full-fledged NHL star in his own right. Now Macklin Celebrini also had to leave the Canadian World Cup squad, which gives Smith the chance to at least in this World Cup take back some of the limelight that he was deprived of. In an extremely exciting American World Cup team, he is the big talent to keep an eye on.
Will Smith during the JVM in Gothenburg, where he won gold with the USA. Photo: Bildbyrån
