Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Finland U-20
Nashville’s prospect Joakim Kemell could have become one of the brightest forwards of the tournament. However, he decided to stain in the United States to keep on playing for Milwaukee Admirals in the AHL. Besides, some defenders will miss this tournament die to injuries, namely Aron Kiviharju and Jesse Nurmi. Kiviharju is one of the top prospect players of the upcoming draft and Jesse played perfectly at the U-18 tournament.
Canada U-20
Macklin Celebrini (17 years) is the main talented player in this team. He’s the youngest in the squad. Canada also have forwards with the experience of performing in main teams alongside older players. Besides Poitras, there’s also Matthew Savoie (Buffalo Sabres), who have got 5 points in his 6 games for Roshester Americans in the AHL.
Finland U-20 – Canada U-20 prediction
Canada are aiming to take a third consecutive title. It’s going to be harder to achieve as there’s only Owen Beck left from the previous squad. He was in leading roles a year ago. Canada have a lot of talented players, for sure. For example, Matthew Poitras, who has been playing for the Boston Bruins in the way as if he had been playing in the NHL for many years. Finland lack stars this time.
This Canadian team is underestimated. It was the same in 2020 when they took the title. I think we can learn from that.
