If you make it to the NHL, you were probably good as a kid, so it’s not surprising a lot of Leafs played in past World Junior Hockey Championships.
Connor Brown didn’t. Tyler Bozak didn’t, but most of the rest of the top nine did.
Here’s all the Leafs and Marlies skaters, when they played, and how they did:
| Name | Year | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | Points per Game | Medals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connor Carrick | 2014 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.60 | |
| Morgan Rielly | 2013 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.50 | |
| Rinat Valiev | 2015 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.43 | Silver Medal |
| Jake Gardiner | 2010 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.43 | Gold Medal |
| Travis Dermott | 2016 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.40 | |
| Martin Marincin | 2010, 2011, 2012 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.36 | |
| Matt Hunwick | 2004, 2005 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0.31 | Gold Medal |
| Roman Polak | 2005, 2006 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0.31 | Bronze Medal |
| Nikita Zaitsev | 2010, 2011 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | Gold Medal |
| William Nylander | 2015, 2016 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 1.38 | |
| Nazem Kadri | 2010 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 1.33 | Silver Medal |
| Mitch Marner | 2016 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1.20 | |
| Auston Matthews | 2015, 2016 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 1.17 | Bronze |
| James van Riemsdyk | 2007, 2008 2009 | 19 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 1.16 | Bronze Medal |
| Brooks Laich | 2003 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1.00 | Silver Medal |
| Dmytro Timashov | 2016 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1.00 | |
| Andreas Johnsson | 2014 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0.86 | Silver Medal |
| Milan Michalek | 2003 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.67 | |
| Joffrey Lupul | 2003 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.50 | Silver Medal |
| Kasperi Kapanen | 2015,2016 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0.50 | Gold Medal |
| Leo Komarov | 2006, 2007 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0.46 | Bronze Medal |
| Frederik Gauthier | 2014, 2015 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.14 | Gold Medal |
| Marc-André Cliche | 2007 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | Gold Medal |
| Kerby Rychel | 2014 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
William Nylander is the champion by points per game, narrowly beating out Nazem Kadri for that honour. Kadri got a medal though.
James van Riemsdyk has always been good, and Mitch Marner’s 1.20 points per game was a disappointment, which is a good lesson in reasonable expectations because it looks good in hindsight.
Brooks Laich and Milan Michalek both played well in 2003, the oldest tournament played in by any of these guys. I’m sure neither believed they’d be in the AHL 14 years later, but that is how hockey goes sometimes. Joffrey Lupul played that year too, and he is nowhere to be seen now.
Six of these players were in the WJC last year!
Connor Carrick has the highest points per game of a defender, and Roman Polak and Matt Hunwick have identical records. Were you even expecting to see both of them on the list?
And now the goalies:
| Name | Year | Games Played | Save Percentage | GAA | Medals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frederik Andersen | 2008 | 4 | 0.854 | 5.62 | |
| Jhonas Enroth | 2007, 2008 | 8 | 0.898 | 2.54 | Silver Medal |
| Jeff Glass | 2005 | 5 | 0.922 | 1.4 | Gold Medal |
| Karri Ramo | 2006 | 1 | 0.861 | 6.21 | Bronze Medal |
| Garret Sparks | 2013 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gold Medal |
Andersen’s one try at the top-level WJC was a bit of a disaster, but he has a gold and a silver in Division I play both at the U20 and the U18 level, so he proved his worth as a young goalie. He talked about his WJC expecience with Sportsnet, and it’s a very good read:
"That’s what it felt like when we went there," said Andersen. "We were playing against Bernier and (Steve) Mason, and Bernier had already played NHL games. We were like: ‘Woah, this kid’s good.’ This guy has already played a bunch of NHL games and we were there playing under-20 in Denmark and not even in the best league. Not even playing pro in Denmark, some of us.
Sparks is the man who got the gold for never playing (John Gibson was the starter), but there are some skaters who never got a point, two of them forwards!
Ramo has nearly as bad a record, one terrible game and a bronze medal. (Tuukka Rask was the starter that year.)
As for the future stars looking to join the Leafs who are playing this year:
Toronto’s Carl Grundström has one goal in seven games from last year’s contest, so he’ll have to really pile up points to challenge Nylander’s points per game rate. Jeremy Bracco has the ability to do it, although it would help if he hadn’t been last year’s Alex DeBrincat, cut for being too...something. And as for Joseph Woll, no one wants to be Garret Sparks or Karri Ramo, playing behind a future star. And he just might be doing that if the USA decides to ride Tyler Parsons hard, but if Woll gets a medal, it’s still earned.
