Top European junior talent meets in Russia

08 Nov 2013 | Derek O’Brien

This weekend, national teams Europe’s four traditional hockey powers are involved in mini-tournaments, where players are trying to earn roster spots in more important tournaments later in the season. While most attention is on the Karjala Cup in Helsinki, where Czechs, Finns, Russians and Swedes playing in European leagues have their sights set on Sochi and the Winter Olympics, much of the continent’s top under-20 talent is in Novogorsk, Russia, with a trip to Malmö for the World Junior Championships being the big prize.

At last year’s World Junior tournament in Ufa, Russia, Sweden earned a 3-2 shootout victory over the host Russians in a tightly-contested semifinal. Sweden ultimately went home with the silver medal, while Russia took bronze. Judging by the lineups for this weekend’s tournament in Novogorsk, those two teams can expect to contend for medals again. And though they finished fifth and seventh, respectively, the Czech Republic and Finland were competitive and look to move up this year with talented teams as well.

The Russians look to make quite an impact with an experienced roster that includes 13 KHL players and five NHL draft picks, including goaltender Andrei Vasilevsky, a first-round choice by Tampa Bay in 2012. Vasilevsky and fellow goalie Igor Ustensky are both returnees from last year’s bronze-winning squad, along with defenceman Andrei Mironov and forwards Anton Slepyshev and Vladimir Tkachyov. Slepyshev and Bogdan Yakimov are both Edmonton Oilers prospects, forward Pavel Buchnevich is a New York Rangers draft pick, and defenceman Valeri Vasiliev belongs to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Sweden is taking seven players back to Russia from last year’s silver-medal squad, including defencemen Linus Arnesson, Christian Djoos and Robert Hägg and forwards Sebastian Collberg, Jacob de la Rose, Filip Sandberg and Alexander Wennberg. Nine of the players on the roster have been drafted by NHL teams, including goaltender Marcus Högberg, an Ottawa Senators prospect, and 17-year-old left winger Anton Karlsson is currently projected to be a top-10 pick in 2014.

Finland’s roster is highlighted by forward Teuvo Teräväinen, a returnee from last year’s squad and a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2012. Four other players are returning from last year’s seventh-place team, including goaltender Janne Juvonen, a St Louis Blues prospect, and defencemen Juuso Vainio and Artturi Lehkonen, the latter a Montreal Canadiens pick. Other drafted players include defenceman Esa Lindell and Santeri Saari and forward Saku Mäenalainen. Kasperi Kapanen, a 17-year-old right winger, is a projected top-10 pick in 2014.

It’s been a while since the Czechs have won a World Junior medal, but with back-to-back fifth-place finishes, they seem to now be on the upswing. With a lot of their top junior stars in North America, the squad they’re taking to Moscow is a young one. The biggest pair to watch are teammates with Swedish club Södertälje: Jakub Vrána and David Pastrňák, who showed great chemistry together at the Ivan Hlinka Cup this past summer. Vrána and defenceman Jan Štencel are the only returnees from last year.

The tournament runs Friday to Sunday with each team playing once per day. When it’s all over, perhaps some names other than the ones mentioned above will have moved themselves to the forefront of discussion.

Tournament schedule:

Friday, November 8

16:00 Czech Republic - Sweden
19:30 Russia - Finland

Saturday, November 9

15:00 Finland - Czech Republic
18:30 Russia - Sweden

Sunday, November 10

13:00 Sweden - Finland
16:30 Russia - Czech Republic

All times MSK (UTC +4). Live commentary of all games is available at Eurolivescores.com.