5 players from Team Canada junior to watch

In two days, Team Canada will begin its World Junior Championship against Finland.

Several young prospects for our favorites will be worth watching, and perhaps one of them will even play in Montreal in 2025 and/or 2026, who knows?

Here are five players to keep an eye on:

Gavin McKenna – undrafted

Gavin McKenna is far the youngest on this team. He was born in 2027 and due to the fact that he will not be drafted in 2025, he will be in the tournament next year as well.

He will have two opportunities to showcase himself in a highly anticipated tournament for scouts. Right now, he is the consensus first overall pick for the 2026 draft. He has generational talent akin to Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby, and I know of a few teams that will finish near the bottom of the overall standings in 2025-2026 who are already licking their chops.

He says he has everything to become the next Connor McDavid → https://t.co/kXlwz0yzbm

— DansLesCoulisses (@DLCoulisses) August 11, 2024

The kid is that spectacular. Make no mistake, despite his young age, I expect to see him dominate. Well, I don’t believe he will break Connor Bedard’s record of 23 points in one tournament, but he will have the chance to come close.

McKenna, who has 60 points in 30 games in the WHL, is a name to remember. Many teams will be watching this young player closely, anyway.

Matthew Schaefer – undrafted

Matthew Schaefer is another undrafted player, but unlike McKenna, he will be selected in the upcoming draft.

In many mock drafts, he is at the top. For those who don’t necessarily follow junior hockey in Canada, you will get a chance to see how incredibly talented he is.

This will be a pretty important tournament for him if he wants to solidify his rank for the next draft. James Hagens, who will play for the United States, also has chances to make a splash in June.

Porter Martone – undrafted

If Porter Martone isn’t in the same category as Schaefer and Hagens, he will still be drafted very early in 2025.

He’s a big guy and you will notice him quite easily on the ice in the coming days. As Simon Boisvert likes to say, he is a man playing among children, and this tournament, against the best young players in the world, will be crucial for his development: is he just as dominant against players a little closer to the NHL?

Sam Dickinson – Sharks

Sam Dickinson has already been drafted, (by the Sharks), but this will be his first World Junior Championship.

I include him in the five players to watch because he is one of my favorite defensemen from the last draft. In my opinion, he was a steal for the Sharks at 11th overall and the one who has 46 points in 26 games with the London Knights (OHL) is impressive.

A defenseman with nearly two points per game is impressive, no matter the level. Dickinson will be Team Canada’s number one or two defenseman (along with Schaefer) and he will have huge responsibilities. For fans who know him less, this will be the perfect opportunity to get familiar with his game.

And if you don’t have time to watch him soon, you will see him often in the highlights over the next few years in San Jose.

Jett Luchanko – Flyers

For reasons everyone knows, Canadiens fans like to scrutinize Flyers prospects closely.

The comparisons of Ivan Demidov-David Reinbacher-Matvei Michkov won’t stop anytime soon. I’d like to talk about Jett Luchanko because, honestly, I was greatly surprised by his early selection by Philadelphia in the last draft.

13th overall: Daniel Brière bypassed Zeev Buium (who was chosen 12th overall, but the Flyers moved back), Michael Hage, Trevor Connelly, and Cole Eiserman, among others, to select Luchanko.

I’m excited to see him with Team Canada because Luchanko, after all, is one of the three players selected in 2024 to have played in a game in the NHL. The others are Macklin Celebrini and one of the Avalanche’s seventh-round picks, Nikita Prishchepov (10 games).

In four games, Luchanko didn’t record a point and was sent back relatively quickly to the OHL, where he is doing well, nothing more. He has 20 points in 16 games, which is not bad, but I expect more points for a guy drafted 13th overall.

With Team Canada, he will have the chance to prove that Philadelphia made a good choice in drafting him. He will have plenty of opportunities to showcase his talent. We’ll see if he makes me eat my words.

Overtime

Here is the schedule for our prospects in the World Junior Championship taking place in Ottawa:

December 26 against Finland
December 27 against Latvia
December 29 against Germany
December 31 against the United States

The game on New Year’s Eve should be to determine first place in the division.

Knockout rounds will follow.