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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.
STEERING THE SHIP
IT’S A FINE LINE between raw rookie and seasoned veteran in major junior. One day, you’re the former. The next day, you wake up to find yourself among the latter. In the blink of an eye, this transformation occurred for St-Joseph-du-Lac, Que., native Justin Gill. After three seasons as a depth center for the Charlottetown Islanders and Sherbrooke Phoenix, Gill had the opportunity to take a big step in his development. The Phoenix, fresh off a QMJHL semifinal appearance in 2022, experienced a significant turnover in top-line talent. Gill was placed on the potent club’s top line with reigning league scoring champ and Montreal prospect Joshua Roy. Gill’s response was a 93-point campaign and another semifinal berth for Sherbrooke. Dealt to the up-and-coming Baie-Comeau Drakkar in June, Gill is now expected, as…
NOT SO CENTRAL SCOUTING
BEFORE THEY ACQUIRED the keys to the executive washroom, Ken Holland and Jim Nill were traditional scouts, two of the hundreds scouring the world for the best teenage hockey talent. NHL draft day was like Christmas morning for them and their peers. Not only was it the culmination of a year’s hard work, but it represented the two days of the year when they and their ilk took the spotlight after months of working in isolation and obscurity. So both had mixed emotions when met with the news the NHL is considering adopting a decentralized draft – likely for 2025. The GMs in them know it’s probably coming because it will save money and should prove to be more efficient. But, on the other hand, the scouts in them are wistful…
PACIFIC DIVISION HOLIDAY GIFT
Even though they occupied a playoff spot for nearly the first quarter of the season, the Ducks have to practise PATIENCE. This rebuild will take time, and with three Ducks regulars – Mason McTavish, Leo Carlsson and Pavel Mintyukov – not yet of drinking age in California, it’s understandable if there’s a market correction in the standings. So, it’s OK to enjoy the journey, especially when Frank Vatrano is among the top 10 goal-scorers in the NHL and John Gibson ranks among the league leaders in save percentage. It’s been more than a decade since former GM Jay Feaster used the phrase “INTELLECTUAL HONESTY” as it pertained to the Flames and the looming 2012 trade deadline. With Calgary floundering at the 2013 deadline and stars Jarome Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester at…
RANTANEN AND RAVING
“HI, IT’S MIKKO. Sorry for calling you on Thanksgiving. I know I was supposed to call you a couple of times. Sorry about that…” He apparently isn’t aware that Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in the middle of October and not late November, but that’s cool. And understandable. What sticks with you is how there are absolutely no airs, no sense that the receiver of the call should be honored that an NHL (super?) star would even consider ringing him back. Yeah, Mikko Rantanen is like that. Even for a country that produces some of the most down-to-earth people in the world, Rantanen stands out. He’s definitely not quiet and reserved, and he speaks easily, though not quite on a Teemu Selanne/Patrik Laine level. But there is a refreshing lack of self-importance surrounding…
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