CHL Storylines: Major junior players making an impact across World Juniors

The 2024 World Junior Championship is underway from Gothenburg, Sweden, and the stars of the Canadian Hockey League are looking to make an impact.

Canada will be highly represented with 20 players coming from the three major junior leagues, but it will not be the only one.

Players from the CHL are littered throughout nine of the 10 nations competing in the tournament with only the host nation Sweden not using anyone from Canada’s major junior leagues.

Czechia is rostering 14 CHL players, which is the most of any country outside of Canada. They will be led by Vegas Golden Knights prospect Matyas Sapovaliv and Ottawa Senators prospect Tomas Hamara, who both will be participating in their third World Junior tournament.

Sapovaliv, 19, was drafted 48th overall by the Golden Knights in the 2022 draft. He has 12 goals and 36 points in 27 games this season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit as the team prepares to host the 2024 Memorial Cup tournament.

“He’s going to be a big, strong centreman who just wears you down,” Button said about Sapovaliv. “He played in a gold medal game last year and he’s going to play [in] a Memorial Cup with Saginaw this year. He’s a really good, solid player.”

The 6-foot-3 forward had seven assists in last year’s silver-medal performance for Czechia and had two goals in 2022 to help his country to a fourth-place finish.

He started this season with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers but was traded to the Brantford Bulldogs where he has a goal and eight points in 14 games.

“Tomas is a player who has an offensive aspect to him,” said Button. “He’s confident with the puck and wants to jump into the attack. [Czechia] is going to look at him to be really go on the power play and pound the puck.”

Also looking to make an impact is Barrie Colts forward Eduard Sale, who is one of six returning players from last year’s silver-medal winning team.

Sale was a highly touted NHL prospect in last year’s tournament, and he registered a goal and six points in seven games.

“He has excelled on the international stage at the last two World Under-18 Championships and as a 17-year-old on last year’s silver-medal team,” said Button. “When you have a player that’s confident internationally and has had success, they’re looking for him to be a difference-maker.”

The 6-foot-2 forward was drafted 20th overall by the Seattle Kraken and elected to join the OHL rather than returning to Czechia. With the Colts, Sale is fourth in team scoring with seven goals and 21 points in 25 games this season.

Slovakia's time to shine

Slovakia will also have a strong CHL contingent, rostering nine players for this year’s tournament. After finishing sixth in last year’s edition, expectations are high to go deep this time around.

They will be led by forward Dalibor Dvorsky, who will be participating in his third World Junior tournament.

Dvorsky was drafted 10th overall by the St. Louis Blues in last June’s draft and began this season playing professionally in Sweden. However, after limited success and playing time, the Blues and Dvorsky decided it would be better for his development to move to North America and play for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves.

“Your game stagnates offensively when you aren’t playing and producing much,” Button explained. “I think coming to Sudbury has been a boon for both Dvorsky and Slovakia coming into the World Juniors because you don’t want to come into the tournament trying to find your offensive game.”

The 19-year-old leads the Wolves with 18 goals this season to go along with his 34 points.

Fans of the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames will also take an interest in Team Slovakia as it features prospects Filip Mesar and Samuel Honzek, who are also appearing in their third World Juniors.

Mesar, 19, was drafted 26th overall by the Canadiens in the 2022 draft and got his first taste of professional hockey action, appearing in two games with the AHL’s Laval Rocket before being returned to Kitchener.

The 5-foot-10 forward added more firepower to an already strong offensive Rangers team where he is fifth in team scoring with 13 goals and 32 points in only 20 games.

Mesar only appeared in two games during the 2021 edition of the World Juniors, but he was third in team scoring with two goals and six points in five games for a sixth-place finish in 2023.

“This is Mesar’s third tournament, and he’s been a dominant player in Kitchener,” said Button. “He comes into this tournament with a high confidence level knowing that he can perform at the highest level of junior hockey.”

Honzek is entering his third tournament looking to make up for some lost time. The 19-year-old had his 2023 World Juniors cut short in Halifax after sustaining a cut to his calf in Slovakia’s final round-robin game. The injury made him unavailable for Slovakia’s quarter-finals loss to Finland and he missed the following two months with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants.

The 6-foot-4 winger was drafted 16th overall by the Flames in the 2023 draft but sustained another long-term injury during the Flames’ pre-season, which kept him out of the Giants’ lineup for the first two months of the season.

“The Flames made sure he was fully rehabilitated and ready to come back,” said Button. “His injury shouldn’t affect him at all based on what he’s done in his short time with the Giants this year. He’s a big impact player and a good player last year before he got hurt. He’ll be a really good player here.”

Honzek has appeared in five games with the Giants this season, recording three goals and seven points before joining Slovakia for the World Juniors. Last season, Honzek finished second on the Giants in scoring with 23 goals and 56 points in 43 games as a rookie.