Team USA's Jake McCabe (centre) celebrates a goal against Canada with teammates Seth Jones (left) and Rocco Grimaldi during their semifinal game at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Ufa, Russia, Jan. 3, 2013. (MARK BLINCH/Reuters)
One of the interesting things at the 2013 World Junior Hockey Championship was the number of NHL draft-eligible players who not only participated in the tournament but wound up having an impact on their teams.
After consulting with a couple of scouts and QMI Agency’s always watchful eyes on the action, here’s a list of the draft-eligible players who might have done themselves the most good at the tournament.
As one of our scouting confidantes said, “It’s a 19-year-old tourney, so you don’t penalize the draft eligible players for their performance, but if they stand out, you really take notice. A good example is (Swiss star Nino) Niederreiter two years ago.” He had six goals and 10 assists and went from being projected in the middle rounds of the draft to fifth overall by the New York Islanders.
