Ranger prospects who could play at the World Junior U20 Championships

The New York Rangers should be well represented at the WJC tournament

With the NHL season due to start on January 1 at the earliest, the eyes of the hockey world will be on the 2021 IIHF World U20 Championship tournament in December, a showcase for the hockey world’s best potential stars.  With a solid pipeline of young prospects, the New York Rangers should have a number of players participating.

Led by Kaapo Kakko, Finland won the gold in 2019. Alexis Lafrenière led Canada to the gold in 2020.  Can another Ranger prospect go for a three-peat?

To be eligible for the tournament, a player has to have his 20th birthday the year the tournament ends or later.  For the 2021 tournament a player would have to be born in 2001 or later in order to qualify.

The Rangers have 14 players who could take part in the tournament and right now the projection is that six future Rangers could play.  The participating nations will be announcing the teams in the next few weeks.   USA Hockey held an in-person evaluation camp earlier this month while Canada held a virtual evaluation over the summer.

Unlike past years when the majority of Rangers prospects were from Europe, this year three of the six are from Canada.  Here is the breakdown starting with Canada.