Unfortunately, that quartet did not get to showcase their abilities to the fullest as a COVID-19 outbreak postponed the tournament until the summer.

This year will be a different story.

There should be no concerns of tournament cancellation, the Russians have been kept out of the tournament due to the invasion of Ukraine and the Buffalo Sabres will have just three prospects playing, but all in crucial roles.

When the puck drops today in Canadian cities Halifax, Nova Scotia and Moncton, New Brunswick, there will be three Sabres prospects with huge roles for their countries. Rosen, the 14th selection of the 2021 NHL Draft, is returning to a much bigger role after helping Sweden earn bronze this summer and he will be joined by Noah Ostlund, the 16th pick in 2022. Then, on the Czech Republic, Jiri Kulich, the 28th pick this past summer, will play in his second World Juniors.

Sabres’ prospect Jiri Kulich will begin his quest for a World Junior Ice Hockey Championship gold medal with Czechia today. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms

At last year’s tournament, Rosen was penciled into a depth role for a Swedish roster loaded with top-six talent that rivaled what the Canadians brought. Then with the cancellation, several of those top players decided not to return in the summer for the makeup tournament which elevated Rosen in the lineup and he scored four goals and an assist in the third-place effort.

Leading up to the tournament this year Rosen has looked like Sweden’s best player. Being one of the older players on the Swedish team and finding success in his first year in North America with the Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League, he should have plenty of confidence.

Despite originally looking like just a power-play specialist, similar to Victor Olofsson, Rosen looks to have developed his offensive game at even-strength. The playmaking element has been quite prevalent in Rochester where he has just three goals and 12 assists through 25 games.

Look for Rosen to play the wing on the top line and top power-play unit, while Ostlund will get a chance to be a top-six center in just his first World Juniors. Ostlund is light as a feather and it shows in how he flies around the ice scanning for passing options or looking to slither his way into a dangerous area to let off a deceptive shot.

The undersized Ostlund will be paired up with fellow Djurgardens teammate Liam Ohgren, a Minnesota prospect selected at No. 19 in the last year’s draft. Ohgren will provide the physicality needed for the line and the opposite winger could either be Rosen, Bruins prospect Fabian Lysell or Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki to serve as the triggerman with elite shots.

Sabres’ prospect Isak Rosen will begin his quest for a World Junior Ice Hockey Championship gold medal with Sweden today. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms

If Sweden hopes to land on the podium again, both Rosen and Ostlund will need to have huge tournaments, because after them the Swedish talent is quite bleak.

The Swedes are going from being led by top goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt to a trio of mediocre goaltending prospects and the defense in front of them has no elite talent. Currently, the best option on defense is Axel Sandin Pellikka, who is draft eligible for the first time in 2023.

While Sandin Pellikka is certainly going to be a first-round selection and is arguably the best defender in the upcoming draft, he is not the special talent on the back end that’s needed to find the podium. Pellikka will not be the only draft-eligible Swede on the roster as he is joined by Leo Carlsson.

Carlsson will be a player to keep an eye on and is the best Swedish prospect since Rasmus Dahlin. Carlsson will likely be used on the wing in the top-six, but on draft day he will be the third selection and will be intended to be a center with elite upside.

With the lack of depth on the Swedish roster, they will likely miss the podium this tournament and the team that could surprise many for a medal is the Czech Republic. If the Czechs plan to steal a spot on the podium, Buffalo’s first-round selection, Kulich, will need to have a successful tournament.

In the summer makeup of the tournament, Kulich was tied with Jan Mysak for top scorer on his team with eight points and this tournament should only see those numbers go up. Now that Mysak has aged out of eligibility for the tournament, the weight of scoring will fall more heavily on Kulich, but that’s not to worry with the depth of the Czech team.

Kulich currently has been playing well for the Rochester Americans, scoring six goals and 10 assists in 24 games, his booming shot will certainly be a problem for goalies up against it this tournament.

Kulich should be the best forward on the Czech team, but the best player will be Blue Jackets top prospect David Jiricek. If a team hopes to find success at any level of hockey, they need an elite talent on the blue line and that is exactly what Jiricek will provide. The No. 6 selection in the 2022 draft has made a seamless transition to the AHL, producing over a point per game as an 18-year-old defenseman and that will translate to him being very capable of winning Defenseman of the Tournament.

Competing with Jiricek for that honor will be Luke Hughes, the Americans’ biggest hope of getting back on the medal stand. If there is a defender who can somewhat replicate Cale Makar’s game, it is the youngest of the Hughes brothers.

Hughes has the speed and offensive instincts to essentially give the Americans a fourth forward on the ice. He will need to step it up when the top line of Logan Cooley, Jimmy Snuggerud and Cutter Gauthier are not on the ice, and if he can do that the United States will find itself back on the podium.

Each of the countries with a chance to win have elite talent at the top, but no team stacks up to the top of the Canadian lineup. Typically there is just one draft-eligible player to make the Canadian squad and they are generally relied upon as a depth piece, but this is not an ordinary group of Canadians.

The 2023 NHL Draft has the potential to be one of the best in history and it will be headlined by Canadians Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli, who will both be leading the Canadians to another gold medal. Bedard is the best prospect since Connor McDavid and Fantilli is tearing up the NCAA in a similar fashion to Jack Eichel in his draft year. Despite the duo being some of the youngest at the tournament, they will no doubt be the most talented and it will be a shock if Bedard is not named the tournament MVP.

My prediction is Canada will take home gold, Czechia will take silver and USA will earn bronze; MVP and top forward will go to Bedard; and top defenseman will be Jiricek. For the all-tournament team on defense it will be Tomas Suchanek in net from Czechia; Jiricek and Canada’s Olen Zellweger on defense; and Bedard, Canada’s Logan Stankoven and the United States’ Logan Cooley at forward.

For those interested in players eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft, names to watch are Austria’s David Reinbacher on defense; Canadians Bedard and Fantilli; Czechia forward Eduard Sale; Slovakian forward Dalibor Dvorsky and defenseman Maxim Strbak; Sweden’s Carlsson; and American goaltender Trey Augustine.