{"id":372278,"date":"2025-12-26T04:30:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T04:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/372278\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T04:30:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T04:30:09","slug":"world-junior-tournament-stocked-with-players-who-could-have-an-impact-in-nhl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/372278\/","title":{"rendered":"World junior tournament stocked with players who could have an impact in NHL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada’s Gavin McKenna (9) protects the puck from Sweden’s Casper Juustovaara Karlsson (29) during an exhibition game ahead of the world junior hockey championship in Kitchener, Ont., earlier this month.Nick Iwanyshyn\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The world junior hockey championship gets going Friday with plenty of top-end talent set to be on display. Future stars in the NHL to suit up at the men\u2019s under-20 tournament in recent years include Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, Lane Hutson and Leo Carlsson. <\/p>\n

The Canadian Press takes a look at some of the players to watch at this year\u2019s event in Minnesota. <\/p>\n

Gavin McKenna <\/p>\n

Once thought to be the slam-dunk No. 1 pick at the 2026 NHL draft, the 18-year-old forward from Whitehorse has struggled to match his point total of last season, registering 18 across 16 games in the NCAA with Penn State after dominating the Western Hockey League as a member of the Medicine Hat Tigers. McKenna, who put up 129 points in 56 contests in 2024-25 and was part of Canada\u2019s fifth-place showing at the world juniors, could still very well go first overall \u2013 and will be a key part of his country\u2019s attack. <\/p>\n

Ivar Stenberg <\/p>\n

The 18-year-old Swedish winger is one of the players challenging McKenna on expert draft boards. Stenberg, a shifty playmaker, has suited up the last two seasons in his country\u2019s top professional league with Frolunda, registering 24 points in 25 games so far in 2025-26. <\/p>\n

Michael Misa<\/p>\n

Not even invited to Canada\u2019s selection camp 12 months ago, the 19-year-old forward has parachuted in from the San Jose Sharks for the tournament. Misa, who was selected No. 2 at June\u2019s NHL draft after registering 134 points in 65 contests in 2024-25 with the Ontario Hockey League\u2019s Saginaw Spirit, scored his first goal with the Sharks this fall and has a total of three points in seven games with San Jose. <\/p>\n

Anton Frondell <\/p>\n

The 18-year-old Swede selected No. 3 by the Chicago Blackhawks in June has played professionally in his homeland with Djurgardens the last three seasons. Frondell, a big centre, had 15 points across 25 games in 2025-26 before joining the national team. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

James Hagens (12) of the United States plays against Germany at the world junior hockey championship in Ottawa on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024.Sean Kilpatrick\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

James Hagens<\/p>\n

A key part of last January\u2019s gold-medal win in Ottawa, the 19-year-old is back to lead the United States on home soil in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Hagens, a centre picked seventh overall by the Boston Bruins at the 2025 draft, has 18 points in 16 games this season with Boston College this season. <\/p>\n

Cole Hutson <\/p>\n

The younger brother of Montreal Canadiens star Lane Hutson, the fellow defenceman led all skaters with 11 points in seven contests at last year\u2019s world juniors for the U.S. The 19-year-old Hutson, a second-round pick of the Washington Capitals in 2024, has 20 points in 18 games with Boston University in 2025-26. <\/p>\n

Alberts Smits <\/p>\n

The 18-year-old defenceman from Latvia could be a top-10 pick at the upcoming draft. Smits has played the last two seasons in Finland\u2019s top professional division, with 12 points across 29 games in 2025-26. <\/p>\n

Chase Reid <\/p>\n

The 17-year-old American defenceman is another draft-eligible prospect set to be showcased for scouts in Minnesota. Reid has spent the last two seasons with the OHL\u2019s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, with 35 points in 31 games so far in 2025-26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Canada’s Gavin McKenna (9) protects the puck from Sweden’s Casper Juustovaara Karlsson (29)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[3793,3782,64,63,3794,1348,3774,3795,2065,3773,3787,3788,3784,3775,3772,164,2555,75,69,3781,3805,3776,3777,3786,3783,1625,2289,3796,3779,3800,3801,575,3803,3798,3802,3797,3799,3778,3790,3791,84,3789,2111,85,635,105,3792,3785,3780,1346,3804],"class_list":["post-372278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-nhl","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}