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World Juniors Special 2024
Get everything you need to know about the 2024 World Junior Championship with our annual preview edition! Inside, you'll find scouting reports for each country and features on key players to watch. Also in the issue: stories on Pettersson, Rantanen, Hintz, Byfield, Bratt, Necas, Karlsson, Zuccarello, Spooner, Flanagan and more, plus an early look at the 2024 free-agent class.
SCOUTING REPORT
IN AN ALTERNATE universe, Slovakia beats Canada in overtime of the 2023 quarterfinal and goes on a mad march to a medal. Connor Bedard killed that chance in reality, but Slovakia returns with a formidable squad for 2024. In fact, the team could have up to 16 returnees. The most crucial is D-man Simon Nemec, the New Jersey Devils lottery pick who has been developing in the AHL with Utica. Thanks to the skill he brings to the blueline, he’d be one of the best players in the entire tournament (assuming the Devils don’t call him up first). Up front, Slovakia brings back impressive weapons such as Dalibor Dvorsky (STL), Filip Mesar (MTL) and Servac Petrovsky (MIN). Samuel Honzek, the Calgary Flames first-rounder, missed most of last year’s tourney due to injury…
FILIP BYSTEDT
SWEDEN’S PERFORMANCE at last year’s world juniors was less than impressive, though there were a couple of notable bright spots. Leo Carlsson, who was later drafted second overall by Anaheim in 2023, was one of them. His linemate, 2022 San Jose first-rounder Filip Bystedt, was another. Both brought a compete level that buoyed the team at times, not to mention the skills to put the puck in the net. And while Carlsson may be too busy in the NHL for an encore, Bystedt will be a key returning member of the Tre Kronor. The big center intends to use last year’s tournament as a lesson. “It’s all details,” Bystedt said. “We saw it in the quarterfinal, the semi and the bronze-medal game. It’s the small things that matter. Getting it deep,…
COURTING GREATNESS
YOU’D BE FORGIVEN FOR being a little confused when Martin Necas scored his first overtime goal of the season in late October. Not by the scoring in overtime part – he does that a lot. It was more the celebration, where Necas made it look like he was talking to someone on the phone before slamming down the receiver. It turns out Necas is a huge tennis fan, and his celly was an homage to Ben Shelton, who did it after defeating Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinal of the U.S. Open a month before. Shelton explained the celebration by saying he was “dialled in.” In case you haven’t pieced it together, Necas is really into tennis. Even though his favorite player is Rafael Nadal, he loved the chutzpah Shelton displayed with…
DALIBOR DVORSKY
WHEN DALIBOR Dvorsky was drafted 10th overall by the St. Louis Blues in June, the Slovak center was set to spend 2023-24 in Sweden, where he had played since 2018-19. This was supposed to be the year he took the step up to the Swedish League with IK Oskarshamn after spending two seasons with AIK in the Allsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro league. Sometimes, though, things don’t go as planned. “I wasn’t getting the opportunities I was told I would,” Dvorsky said. “I need to play in order to develop, and I just wasn’t playing. That’s the reason I came to Sudbury.” Dvorsky, 18, has never lacked confidence. In fact, the young Slovak exudes it. His belief that he could’ve helped Oskarshamn this year has never waned, even now that he’s in the…
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