World Juniors 2022

First-time draft-eligible players to watch at the 2022 World Juniors

This year's edition of the IIHF World Junior Championships will be similar to many that have come before it. It's primarily a 19-year-old tournament that will be dominated by 19-year-olds. It's not an event that is often friendly to draft-eligible kids who have been fortunate enough to warrant roster spots. 

However, this year's tournament will feature some truly remarkably elite talent coming from a couple of 2023-eligible kids instead of the upcoming crop. 

Now, with that said, that does not mean this tournament will be void of exciting draft-eligible talent. There will be lottery picks playing for the big five squads. There will be several less-heralded types littering the rest of the countries looking to make a name for themselves. The scouts will have plenty to do in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.

Unfortunately, Sweden will be without a 2022-eligible player this year. They opted to leave presumptive first-round talents Liam ÖhgrenNoah Östlund and Jonathan Lekkerimäki at home. Canada will have just one draft-eligible player, and Russia and America will have the same. But that's where the fun really begins. 

Let's take a look at each of the squads and check in on some of the more exciting draft-eligible players who will represent their countries at the upcoming World Junior Championships.

Access this article with EP Premium

Go Premium to access this article

Register your Premium-membership at eliteprospects.com to get access to this article and more quality, in-depth coverage at EP Rinkside

This article is about:
World Juniors 2022 Canada U20 Czechia U20 Finland U20 Russia U20 Slovakia U20 Sweden U20 USA U20 Liiga SHL KHL MHL Slovakia Czechia Austria USHL OHL Logan Cooley David Jiricek Marco Kasper Joakim Kemell Brad Lambert Filip Mesar Simon Nemec Juraj Slafkovsky Shane Wright Danila Yurov
Scoring Leaders