With the 2016 World Junior Championships fast approaching which Dallas Stars prospects will be playing in the tournament and could have an impact on their respective teams?
There is only one Dallas Stars prospect that has made the rosters of his national squads
That prospect is Roope Hintz, for Finland, the Stars second-round pick in the 2015 draft.
He made the Finnish team in last year’s tournament, registering two points in five games,and should be a large part of the team again this year.
It is quite possible that Hintz will end up centring one of the top two lines for the Finns and could be playing alongside Kasperi Kapanen and Mikko Rantanen.
The 2016 WJC are being held in Finland so Hintz will be fighting for the gold medal on home ice.
Until late Thursday, it looked like Stars first-round pick Denis Guryanov would also be at the tournament, but he was a late removal from team Russia.
Guryanov would have had the chance to shine on the international stage after spending much of the season with limited minutes in the KHL, but he was one of Russia’s final cuts after receiving a major and game misconduct for slashing the team’s final exhibition.
This would have be the first time that many Dallas Stars fans will have been able to watch Guryanov play. He’s one of a strong core of offensively talented Russian forwards that hope to get far in the tournament.
For the third straight year the Dallas Stars have no prospects playing for either the Canadian or American national sides.
In the past few years Dallas Stars prospects such as Radek Faksa, Aleksi Makela, Esa Lindell, Julius Honka, Emil Molin and Matej Paulovic have all represented their national teams at the WJC.