2019 World Junior Championship Group A preview

Canada coach Tim Hunter is looking for one attribute more than any other as his team prepares for the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Speed.
"We're going to try to be the fastest World Junior team yet," Hunter told TSN. "And we have a lot of work cut out for us, but that's the goal and that's the identity we're going to have."
And it's not just skating speed. Hunter wants his team to play fast and think fast.
"It's being fast in every aspect of the game, with and without the puck," he said. "Off face-offs, on your forecheck, tracking back. I've studied that really hard over the last two years and talked to some great hockey minds and got some great opinions on it so we'll implement a lot of the stuff. I've used it with my own team in Moose Jaw (Western Hockey League) this year. We've had a lot of success with some of the things."

The 2019 WJC begins Wednesday and runs through Jan. 5, with games at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, British Columbia, and Rogers Centre in Vancouver. Canada, the defending champion, is in Group A along with Czech Republic, Denmark, Russia and Switzerland, and will play its preliminary-round games in Vancouver.
Here's a look at each Group A team, in predicted order of finish:

Canada

Coach:Tim Hunter
2019 NHL Draft watch:Brett Leason, F, Prince Albert (WHL)
Schedule:Dec. 26, Denmark (8 p.m. ET; TSN, NHLN [joined in progress]); Dec. 27, Switzerland (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 29, Czech Republic (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 31, Russia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN)
Outlook:The defending champions will have one player returning from last year's team, Anaheim Ducks forward prospect Max Comtois, but remain one of the tournament favorites. Canada's size and skill at forward could be its strength, led by a projected first line of Comtois (6-foot-2, 207 pounds), Vegas Golden Knights prospect Cody Glass (6-2, 178) and Florida Panthers prospect Owen Tippett (6-1, 216). One player to watch is high-scoring forward Alexis Lafreniere, who will become the seventh 17-year-old to play for Canada at the WJC (Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Jason Spezza, Jay Bouwmeester, Eric Lindros). He's projected as the No. 1 pick of the 2020 NHL Draft. Canada's chances of success could hinge on the play of Michael DiPietro (Vancouver Canucks), the favorite to start in goal after Carter Hart (Philadelphia Flyers) backstopped runs to the championship game the previous two tournaments.

Russia

Coach:Valeri Bragin
2019 NHL Draft watch:Vasili Podkolzin, F, SKA St. Petersburg 2 (RUS-JR)
Schedule:Dec. 27, Denmark (4 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 28, Czech Republic (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 30, Switzerland (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 31, Canada (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN)
Outlook:Russia will have two players back from the team that finished fifth at the 2018 WJC, ending its run of seven straight tournaments with a medal. Forward Klim Kostin (St. Louis Blues) and defenseman Dmitri Samorukov (Edmonton Oilers) are back and each has North American experience. Samorukov is in his third season with Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League, and also played five games with Bakersfield, the Oilers' American Hockey League affiliate, last season. Kostin has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 28 games in his second season with San Antonio of the AHL. Russia's most intriguing player could be Podkolzin (6-1, 190), an A-rated player for the 2019 draft. He helped Russia finish second at the 2018 World Junior A Challenge, which ended Dec. 16, and tied for the tournament scoring lead with eight points (three goals, five assists) in six games. Russia always is well-coached and aiming to return to the medal stand.

Czech Republic

Coach:Vaclav Varada
2019 NHL Draft watch:Martin Has, D, Tappara Jr. (FIN-JR)
Schedule:Dec. 26, Switzerland (4 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 28, Russia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 29, Canada (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 31, Denmark (4 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN)
Outlook:Martin Necas (Carolina Hurricanes), who tied for the tournament scoring lead with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) and led Czech Republic to a surprising fourth-place finish at the 2018 WJC, will be back to help the Czechs try to win a medal for the first time since finishing third in 2005. Necas has two points (one goal, one assist) in seven games with the Hurricanes this season, and has 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 26 games with Charlotte of the AHL. Also returning from last year is forward Filip Zadina (Detroit Red Wings) who tied for second at the tournament with seven goals. Goalie Jakub Skarek (New York Islanders) had an .848 save percentage in five games at the 2018 WJC and could start the tournament as the No. 1, but Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks) could push him for time.

Switzerland

Coach:Christian Wohlwend
2019 NHL Draft watch: Valentin Nussbaumer, F, Shawinigan (QMJHL); Nando Eggenberger, F, Oshawa (OHL)
Schedule:Dec. 26, Czech Republic (4 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 27, Canada (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 29, Denmark (4 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 30, Russia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN)
Outlook:Switzerland is hoping experience makes up for a lack of top-end talent, with 13 players from the 2018 WJC returning. Among them is goalie Akira Schmid (New Jersey Devils), who was the third goalie at the 2018 WJC and has a 2.73 GAA and .905 save percentage in 11 games with Omaha of the United States Hockey League this season. Defenseman Tobias Geisser (6-4, 201), a Washington Capitals prospect playing with Hershey in the AHL, will anchor the defense. Forwards Phillip Kurashev (Chicago Blackhawks) and Valentin Nussbaumer, a B-rated prospect for the 2019 draft playing with Shawinigan in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, could be the leaders up front. It's been more than 20 years since Switzerland won its only WJC medal, a bronze in 1998; the goal for this year is to beat Denmark and avoid the relegation round.

Denmark

Coach:Olaf Eller
2019 NHL Draft watch: Mads Sogaard, G, Medicine Hat (WHL)
Schedule: Dec. 26, Canada (8 p.m. ET; TSN, NHLN [joined in progress]); Dec. 27, Russia (4 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 29, Switzerland (4 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN); Dec. 31, Czech Republic (4 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN)
Outlook:Denmark remained in the top division of the WJC after defeating Belarus in two games in the best-of-3 relegation round in 2018, and will be hard-pressed to avoid going through that again. Much of the responsibility for avoiding relegation could fall on Sogaard, the third goalie on the 2018 team who is a B-rated prospect for the 2019 draft. He has a 2.39 GAA and .931 save percentage in 19 WHL games with Medicine Hat. Also returning is forward Jonas Rondbjerg (Golden Knights), who led Denmark with seven points (two goals, five assists) in six games. Denmark reached the quarterfinals at the 2017 WJC, but with Canada, Russia and Czech Republic looking strong, their best bet for tournament success will be a win in the preliminary round against Switzerland.