5 compelling World Junior Championship storylines

We hope you're all ready for more world juniors action. Thanks to extremely unique circumstances, the 2023 edition of the annual championship is coming at us from Halifax and Moncton a mere four months after the conclusion of the last tournament.

The Canadians are the reigning champions as they took home the gold in Edmonton. They will be looking to become the first country to claim glory at back-to-back championships since winning five straight between 2005-09.

There's always plenty to keep an eye on as some of the top young talent in the men's game prepare to go head-to-head, so without further ado, here are five compelling storylines to monitor at the 2023 World Junior Championship.

1. Can Shane Wright take over?

One goal, one assist, an average ice time of 8:29 over eight games, and a five-game conditioning stint in the AHL.

Those are the figures that have defined Wright's NHL career so far. Sure, it isn't necessarily fair to expect every high draft pick to make an immediate impact at the big-league level, but the hopes for Wright were lofty once he was granted exceptional status into the CHL as a 15-year-old in 2019. Widely considered a front-runner to go first in the 2022 NHL Draft, Wright fell to the Seattle Kraken at No. 4.

Shortly after his surprising slip, Wright said he was "definitely going to have a chip on (his) shoulder," according to the Seattle Times' Geoff Baker. We can't think of many things that would be better for the youngster's confidence than slaying the competition at the world juniors.

Wright doesn't have a wealth of experience at the tournament. He logged one assist in two games at the short-lived World Junior Championship last December, didn't participate in the rescheduled event in August, and was cut from the 2021 team as a 16-year-old. That doesn't mean he isn't used to the international stage, though. Wright won gold with Canada at the 2021 World U18 Championships, putting up 14 points in just five games and scoring two goals in the final.

Let's see that chip on his shoulder in action.

2. How many points will Connor Bedard get?

With the 2023 NHL Draft just six months away, who won't be keeping tabs on the projected first overall pick at the world juniors? We can think of a few basement-dwelling NHL teams that will be very interested in Bedard's performance.

The Bedard buzz is real and has only been gaining traction over time. Last December, the phenom became the first 16-year-old to be named to a Canadian world junior roster since Connor McDavid in 2014. Bedard lived up to the billing by becoming the youngest Canadian player to score four goals in a single game at the tourney. His domination was cut short when the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19, but he returned to action in August, registering four goals and four assists in seven games to help Canada win gold.

There's no reason Bedard can't easily surpass his point total from four months ago. For one, he has momentum. The 17-year-old had to pause a 27-game point streak with the Regina Pats for December's festivities, and he leads the WHL with 27 goals and 64 points in 28 games. Secondly, he's expected to start the tournament on the top line with Wright, forming a potentially lethal duo. The pair played for Canada at the 2021 World U18 Championships - though not on the same line - and, like Wright, Bedard also had 14 points.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but here are some numbers to remember: The record for most points in a single world juniors is 31, set by Peter Forsberg in 1993, while the goals record is 13, achieved by Markus Naslund in the same year. For a narrower scope, the Canadian records for most points and goals in one tournament are 18 and 10, respectively. Just some food for thought.

3. Who will step up in the place of Mason McTavish?

Team Canada arguably has one of the biggest holes to fill at the world juniors without the reigning tournament MVP. McTavish, who was dynamite for his countrymen in August, led the tourney with eight goals and 17 points in seven games, tying Eric Lindros and Wayne Gretzky for the second-most points by a Canadian in a single tournament.

McTavish didn't just light up the scoresheet, either. He led all Canadian forwards with an average ice time of 20:20 per contest and preserved Canada's gold-medal hopes with a clutch defensive play in the final against Finland, scooping the puck off the goal line in overtime. Kent Johnson potted the golden goal for Canada moments later.

Since Wright and Bedard are Team Canada's headline-grabbers, the host nation might look to them to lead the way this time around. For Bedard's part, he seems hungry to take on a bigger role after working on his 200-foot game, including faceoffs and penalty-kill work, per TSN's Mark Masters.

Bedard was on the ice for McTavish's miracle save against Finland and aptly noted that no one would forget about his former teammate's heroics anytime soon, according to the Toronto Star's Mark Zwolinski. Maybe some of McTavish's magic rubbed off on Bedard, and he'll come up with an unforgettable big-game moment of his own in the Maritimes.

4. Redemption for Team USA?

After heading into the 2022 World Junior Championship as the reigning victor, the U.S. was left off the podium following a shocking 4-2 loss to Czechia in the quarterfinal. The defeat was especially surprising because the U.S. cleaned house during the preliminary round, outscoring opponents 22-4.

That loss four months ago marked the second time in the last seven tournaments that the U.S. went home empty-handed (or empty-necked?). It's safe to say the Americans will have redemption on their minds in the Maritimes.

Team USA is bringing back eight players who were a part of the squad that lost to Czechia, including Luke Hughes, who also headlines the Americans' small yet offensive-minded defense corps. Hughes put up six points in August, good for fifth-most among all defensemen at the tournament despite him getting into only five games, two less than the rearguards ahead of him. Up front, the U.S. boasts the likes of Logan Cooley, Cutter Gauthier, and four other first-round picks.

The Americans are once again one of the favorites entering the tournament, but they will have quite the challenge when it comes to competing with Canada's offensive weapons (which include some of the top names available in the 2023 NHL Draft in Bedard and Adam Fantilli). The U.S. is arguably behind the eight ball on that front after making the surprise decision to leave forwards Sasha Pastujov and Ty Voit off the camp roster.

Voit is the leading points-getter in the OHL this season and paces the entire CHL in assists. Pastujov ranks in the top 10 in OHL scoring and played well for the U.S. at the 2022 tourney, chipping in four points in five games. Pastujov also has a penchant for scoring on the power play with nine goals on the man advantage already under his belt in 2022-23.

5. The question of attendance and atmosphere

There's no other way to say it: The August edition of the world juniors had a really tough time drawing a crowd. Prior to the medal games, average attendance hovered around 1,525 people per contest, while clashes featuring Team Canada averaged 4,400 fans, according to the Canadian Press. When Edmonton and Calgary co-hosted the world juniors in 2012, a grand total of 455,342 spectators came to catch the action, compared to just 55,686 people last summer.

The IIHF pointed to three key factors that contributed to the low turnout: High ticket prices, the unique timing of the tournament, and news of the Hockey Canada scandal that first emerged in May, three months before the world juniors.

It's fair to ask what the atmosphere and attendance will be like this time around out east. Hockey Canada is still very much under scrutiny across the nation, but the organization estimates that 85% of the tickets to the 2023 tournament "have been spoken for," according to Global News' Mitchell Bailey. Two factors are likely helping that number along: The 2023 World Junior Championship is back to its regularly scheduled programming in December, and neither Nova Scotia nor New Brunswick has an NHL team nearby, so the tournament offers a unique experience for fans to see future stars up close.

Finally, organizers in Halifax and Moncton have had to work quickly. The cities were announced as the new tournament hosts in May, which didn't leave much time to make an international event come together seamlessly. Russia's Novosibirsk and Omsk were originally going to host the tournament, but the IIHF revoked the country's hosting rights in February due to the invasion of Ukraine.