Top NHL Prospects on Display at 2009 World Junior Championships

If you're a fan of a team like the New York Islanders or Tampa Bay Lightning, you've probably already lost hope of seeing your favorite side in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Since that's the case, it might not be a bad time to start focusing on that team's future. After all, the present isn't going to provide you with a lot of smiles.

The best chance for Joe Fan to get a glimpse into the NHL's future begins Friday in Ottawa. It's the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championships, and the tournament will showcase three of the top prospects for next summer's draft, along with a host of young players seeking to get their name in lights so they can improve their stock.

We'll be providing regular updates throughout the tournament here at FanHouse, and we'll start with a look at the top players and teams. The preview begins after the jump.

Top of the 2009 Draft board

It's widely believed that Canada's John Tavares, a forward, and Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman will be the top two picks in the draft. At this point, it sounds like it's simply a matter of which one goes first overall.

Tavares is a slick skater with a great shot. The kid can flat-out score goals. In fact, he broke an OHL record for goals by a 16-year-old when he went off for 72 in 67 games in the 2006-2007 season. That record was held before by some guy named Wayne Gretzky. I've been told he turned into a pretty decent player.

Chicago Blackhawks assistant general manager Rick Dudley told Alan Adams of CBC Sports that Tavares will be the top pick if he "does what he is capable of". Dudley went on to say that Hedman has some special talent, but it seems there is a leader in the clubhouse.

Hedman is a huge defenseman in the Pronger mold, hopefully without the leg-stomping and elbowing.

Want to know about his potential? He's playing in the Swedish Elite League as a teenager, and he has 10 points and a plus-14 in 25 games.

Surely, a lot of what happens this summer will be predicated on this tournament. Tavares is playing for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. While the OHL is a really good league (Patrick Kane played there and has turned out okay for the Blackhawks despite not having any minor-league seasoning), it's not the same level of competition as what Tavares will see in the WJC.

The same can't really be said for Hedman because he's playing in the Elite League, but this is his chance to prove himself against 2009 draft-eligible players such as Tavares and Jordan Schroeder of Team USA, not to mention past high picks such as Colin Wilson (NHL rights: Nashville) and James vanRiemsdyk (Philadelphia) of the United States and Cody Hodgson (Vancouver) of Team Canada.

Schroeder is the only player on the Team USA roster who is eligible for the 2009 draft, making this a seasoned American team. Seven players on the roster have past World Junior experience. It's expected Schroeder will be a top-ten pick, though his lack of size should keep him "out of contention" for anything much higher than that.

Canada the favorite ... again

Or is it "favourite"?

Not only are they hosting the event, but the Canadian team is - at least on paper - easily the best in the field.

Tavares leads a host of dynamic forwards up front. He's joined by past first-round picks like Hodgson, Zach Boychuk (Carolina), Jordan Eberle (Edmonton), and Angelo Esposito (Pittsburgh).

Tavares and Boychuk return from Canada's gold-medal winning team from last year.

Defensively, the Canadians are equally stacked. Thomas Hickey (Los Angeles) was drafted fourth overall in 2007. Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis) was drafted fourth overall in 2008, and actually got himself a cup of coffee with the Blues before being sent down.

Tyler Myers (Buffalo) and Colten Teubert (Los Angeles) are also first-rounders, and University of Wisconsin sophomore Cody Goloubef (Columbus) is a second-round pick.

Imagine how good this defensive group would be if Minnesota first-rounder Tyler Cuma hadn't gotten hurt.

Check out Canadian goalie Chet Pickard (Nashville). He's a bigger kid and a first-round pick of the Predators. It should be interesting to see how he fares on the big stage.

Team USA in the medal hunt

No reason why this group of kids shouldn't be able to win a medal. Their New Year's Eve showdown with Canada may go a long way to determining their medal chances, as they're not winning gold without beating the hosts.

I mentioned this is an experienced group, thanks to guys like Schroeder, Wilson, and vanRiemsdyk, along with defensemen Jonathon Blum (Nashville) and Cade Fairchild (St. Louis).

Schroeder and Tyler Johnson (undrafted) are quick but a bit on the small side, though Schroeder tends to play much bigger than his size. vanRiemsdyk is a bigger forward who isn't afraid of anything in front of the net, and guys like Eric Tangradi (Anaheim) and Jimmy Hayes (Toronto) give Team USA plenty of size up front.

The Americans are not quite as experienced in goal, with first-timers Thomas McCollum (Detroit) and Josh Unice (Chicago) holding down the fort. McCollum's upside is strong, and the first-round pick is playing very well in the WHL. Against teams like Canada, this is going to be very tough.

Other players to watch

This isn't all about Team USA and Team Canada. I already mentioned Hedman, who is the biggest star on any of the European rosters. However, he's not the only one. The Los Angeles Kings surprised many by allowing rookie forward Oscar Moller (13 points in 31 games for the Kings) to take part in the WJC. His NHL experience, in which he's been impressive at times, should allow him to have a huge tournament. Also, forward Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi is expected to be a first-rounder in 2009.

Team Russia sports Columbus first-rounder Nikita Filatov, who has been solid so far in the AHL. His Russian teammate, defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov (Los Angeles) is also off to a good start in his pro career.

Of the European squads, Sweden appears to be the strongest, with Russia right there, too. In the end, I expect Canada to win gold, and the United States and Sweden will take the other two medals.

On the tube

The NHL Network is providing live coverage of Team USA and Team Canada games. They'll start Friday with Germany-USA at 3:30pm Eastern, followed by Canada-Czech Republic at 7:30pm Eastern.

They'll have all the medal-round games, including the gold medal game January 5 at 7:30pm Eastern.