Mikko Rantanen
Rantanen is a goal scorer that more than one NHL team have not been able to handle. This was true in the play-offs, even though his Colorado team was eliminated in the first round. But to understand the situation in overall - the Avalanche did not have a good season after winning the Stanley Cup the year before - the first half of the season was very bad for the team's ambitions.
Later on, the team's form improved and they secured their qualification to the knockout stage in Denver, but throughout the season the team was plagued by injuries to key players.
The captain Gabriel Landeskog (30) missed the whole season and according to the latest information he will not play next season either. The star Nathan MacKinnon (27) became the most productive player of the team with 111 points, but he also missed 11 games.
Defenseman Cale Makar (24) did not play in 22 games. Rantanen, however, played in every single one and scored 105 points. It was 55 goals, which is the most of his career and the most by a Colorado hockey player. He was only surpassed by Connor McDavid (26) and David Pastrnak (26).
Seattle Kraken was overmatched in the first round, but even there the Nousiainen native shone with seven goals and three assists. From the team's point of view, he is now coming to the national team, where he will not only be the biggest star of the team, but also of the whole championship.
The Finns have put together an interesting squad, composed mostly of 'European players'. The danger can come from the co-operation of Rantanen and Kaapo Kakko (22). The winger returns to the jersey of Finland for the first time since the World Championship 2018, two years before he won silver. In total, he has started three times at the world championship. He played 23 games with a record of nine goals and 13 assists.
In addition, Finland is defending the gold from a year ago, when their most productive player was defenseman Mikko Lehtonen (29), so fans will definitely see Rantanen at the top of the team's scoring charts, and on paper, there is a good chance that he will win the all-tournament as well with the gold medal up for grabs too. That's the plan for a player with a killer instinct.
Moritz Seider
When general manager Steve Yzerman selected defenseman Moritz Seider (22) in the 2019 draft to Detroit Red Wings, many were scratching their heads. What's more, he was already the sixth overall pick. Only behind him were Dylan Cozens (22), Trevor Zegras (22), Cole Caufield (22).
But the Canadian proved once again that he knows what he's doing. Like when he was composing the now hugely successful Tampa Bay team.
The German quarterback Seider is still young, but he is one of the best defensemen in the league. He has two full NHL seasons under his belt, playing the full 82 games in both. He scored 50 points in his debut and now he has added 42.
He excels on both sides of the rink and is generally a quality defenseman. His offensive skills are in his faceoff or shot, but he can be two steps ahead of forwards from the back. He reads their body language well and usually picks up the intent of the opposing team almost immediately due to his quality skating and quick movement.
The fact that he also won the Calder Trophy, the prestigious award for the best rookie, in his first season in the NHL says it all.
Seider played his first senior world championship as an 18-year-old in Slovakia. He played twice more after that, so he's currently waiting for his fourth world championship. A year ago, he was in the top three German hockey players at the tournament.
Alex Tuch
The American forward has had the season of his life, as he set career highs in points with 79, goals with 36 and assists with 43. He was Buffalo Sabres' third most productive player and second leading scorer.
They may not have made it to the playoffs, but the organisation doesn't need to make a big deal out of it, as the team is moving forward with young players and could soon be among the best in the NHL.
Tuch himself was part of the Vegas-Buffalo trade for Jack Eichel (26) in 2021, and even though he's only 27 years old, he's one of the oldest on the team. The US also relies on him, where only five players are older, and two are goaltenders.
With Conor Garland (27), he should be a scoring drag on a team where there are a number of youngsters we'll be hearing a lot about - Lane Hutson (19), Matt Coronato (20), Sean Farrell (21) and Luke Tuch (21), the younger brother of Alex. He's playing in the NCAA so far. Alex himself has only represented the USA in the youth categories so far.
Tyler Toffoli
He has only played for Canada once, and that was at the 2015 World Championships, where he won gold. Otherwise, he has never even played in a youth championship. Now Tyler Toffoli is the captain and the man to drag the "Maple Leaf" to a world championship title. He would be "only" the second since 2016.
Canada has a slightly more experienced team compared to the USA, but it also features the number two pick in the upcoming draft, Adam Fantilli (18), winger Jack Quinn (21) from Buffalo, or his teammate, goalie Devon Levi (21). The most experienced names are Milan Lucic (34), Tyler Myers (33) and Brad Hunt (34).
Toffoli himself was supposed to contend with Calgary Flames in the play-offs at such a time, but the season turned out to be a disaster for the organisation. So the Scarborough native wants to come up with better ideas in Europe.
In doing so, he had a good season, setting a career high with 34 goals and 73 points, clearly the highest number in the NHL. The most he's had so far is 58. He became both the Flames top scorer and most productive player.
Filip Chytil
The young centre has seen significant progression and has earned a new contract from the New York Rangers that will start next season and is worth nearly $4.5million per year. He scored 22 goals and added 23 assists during the regular season last season, clearly his best numbers. In the end, though, he had to chew through an early play-off exit.
Chytil will play in his fourth world championship, but has yet to medal. In fact, he missed the World Championships a year ago. This year he is supposed to pull the offensive line of the Czech team with Roman Cervenka (37) or Michael Spacek (26), who will try to make it to the semi finals - as they do on a regular occassion.
