OTHER X-FACTORS

While the success of Canada’s goaltending could determine if the country wins a second straight gold medal, here are the X-factors for five of their biggest threats:

UNITED STATES

This tournament is shaping up to be the Jack Hughes show. In some ways, it will have to be. The Americans are not deep on the back end and their best goalie is also their most inexperienced. So the team might have to score its way out of trouble. That’s where Hughes comes in. The projected No. 1 pick for the 2019 draft scored 40 goals and had 116 points in 60 games for the U.S. national development team last season and had five goals and 12 points in seven games to help the U.S. win silver at the under-18 world championship.

SWEDEN Even without Rasmus Dahlin around this time, the team’s strength is on the back end, where the country boasts five first-round picks — all on defence. Two of those players (Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin) are on loan from the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies, although there is doubt whether Liljegren will be healthy enough to play in the tournament. Considering that second-round pick Jacob Olofsson (Montreal) is the team’s highest-drafted forward, it will be up to the defence to do most of the damage.

CZECH REPUBLIC This might be the best Czech team that we’ve seen in a long while. They have Filip Zadina, who torched the tournament in scoring last season, along with first-rounders Martin Necas and Filip Chytil. More than that, this is the same age group that won gold at the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup — Canada finished in fifth place that year — so don’t be surprised if the Czechs win their first title since Pavel Brendl led them to gold in 2001.

FINLAND

It has been two long years since Finland wowed the hockey world by winning the world juniors on home soil led by a top line that included Jesse Puljujarvi (five goals and 17 points), Sebastian Aho (five goals and 14 points) and Patrik Laine (seven goals and 13 points). Since then, the team has fallen on hard times. Finland was forced to play in the relegation game in 2017 and was upset by the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals last year. If the team hopes to replicate the 2016 magic, then draft-eligible forward Kaapo Kakko — projected as the No. 2 pick — will have to turn in a Laine-like performance.

RUSSIA

Last year was the first time since 2010 Russia failed to win a medal. It has also been eight long years since it won gold. No wonder the team is bringing a lot of new faces to the tournament. 2017 first-rounder Klim Kostin (St. Louis) is the only returning player from the team that finished fifth. If Russia is going to get back in the medal hunt, Kostin, who has spent the last two years playing for San Antonio in the American Hockey League, will have to take the lead.