The 2024 World Junior Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden, is almost upon us. Team Norway is placed in Group B with Czechia, the United States, Switzerland, and Slovakia. Norway is one of the last teams to make its roster official. Unlike last year, Norway is competing in the top-tier league for the first time since 2014. They won the 2023 WJC division 1A last year allowing them to be promoted up to the top division.
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Unlike most other WJC teams, Norway doesn’t have an NHL-drafted player on their roster. They do have one of the top prospects entering the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, something you usually don’t see with Team Norway. After that, the Norwegians slim down in terms of potential NHL prospects. While everyone is eligible, there may only be one or two players on this roster who hear their name called on draft day.
To briefly recap, Norway’s last NHL-drafted player was Emil Martinsen Lilleberg who was drafted in the fourth round at 107th overall by the Arizona Coyotes. The highest-ever drafted Norwegian-born player was Marius Holtet who was drafted in the second round at 42nd overall by the Dallas Stars in 2002. Norway boasts one of the top prospects in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, who is projected to be drafted in the mid-to-late first round.
Related: 2024 Guide to the World Junior Championship
Unlike their 2023 performance, the Norwegians actually received a boost in talent. While they are expected to finish at the bottom of a tough Group B, don’t count them out completely. Players like Noah Steen, Petter Vesterheim, Kasper Magnussen, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Stian Solberg, Gabriel Koch, and Markus Røhnebæk Stensrud will provide experience and needed talents to help this team secure a victory or two. Team Norway will open their tournament against Team USA on Dec. 26 in the week-and-a-half-long tournament. While they won’t be competing for a medal, they will be looking to avoid relegation back down to Division 1A. Any finish above avoiding relegation will be considered a premium to Norway at this year’s tournament.
Goaltending
Sebastian Hagen Aarsund, Martin Holtet Lundberg, Markus Røhnebæk Stensrud
Norway will be very busy when it comes to their goaltending. Røhnebæk Stensrud is currently the projected starter for Team Norway this year, but Aarsund and Lundberg could steal the spotlight out of nowhere. However, it will be difficult for Røhnebæk Stensrud to lose his spot after his dominant performance in the 2023 WJC Division 1A tournament. He also is entering his third tournament with Team Norway and his first in the top-tier division. He will face his fair share of challenges as Norway’s projected goaltender for this year’s tournament as they face three powerhouse teams in the round-robin games.
Lundberg played on Norway’s WJC U18 roster last year, while Aarsund was cut from that same roster. Lundberg’s development path has led him to play in Sweden. Currently, he’s playing for Mora IK J20 in J20 Nationell. He currently has an 8-3-0 win-loss record across 12 games, he’s posted an .890 save percentage (SV%) and a 3.36 goals-against average (GAA). This has proved to be a great career decision for him as it has led him to commit to Ferris State University at the NCAA level. Aarsund has been playing in Sweden since 2020-21. Currently, he’s playing with Linkoping HC J20 in J20 Nationell where he’s performing less than ideally. His current win-loss record is 5-10-0 across 16 games where he has an .875 SV% and a 3.51 GAA.
Defensemen
Gabriel Koch, Ludvig Lafton, Tobias Bjercke Larsen, Christopher Lie, Mathias Papuga, Stian Solberg, Emil Kvernmo Wasenden
Leading the charge for Norway’s defence will be Solberg and Koch. After that, it will be an uphill battle for Norway’s defence to keep teams like the USA, Slovakia, and Czechia at bay. Norway does possess some more physically imposing defensemen in this year’s tournament, but they will also need to play lockdown defence if they’re looking to win some games.
Related: Team Norway Players to Watch at 2024 WJC
Koch and Solberg will be relied upon by Norway’s coaches to log big minutes in the 2024 WJC. They will take a good chunk of the workload off the other five defensemen, and for good reason. Solberg has been reliable for Norway at the international level, and Koch isn’t too far behind either. Both of these defensemen could take a weak Norwegian defence and make something out of a very limited talented pool.
Kvernmo Wasenden, Bjercke Larsen and Papuga are returning to Team Norway this year alongside teammate Koch. Whereas Solberg, Lie, and Lafton are new additions to Team Norway. The talent pool isn’t as strong as Norway would like it to be, but they have enough talent to compete to stay in the top-tier division. Defence will play a crucial role in Norway staying in this division, and with the leadership of Koch and the addition of Solberg, they should be able to fight their way to win the relegation series.
Forwards
Alieu Moldal Bah, Oskar Kind Bakkevig, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Patrik Dalen, Felix Granath, Casper Haugen Evensen, Martin Johnsen, Johannes Løkkeberg, Kasper Magnussen, Mats Bakke Olsen, Noah Steen, Petter Vesterheim, Sander Wold
The clear highlight of Norway’s forward core is Brandsegg-Nygård who, as I previously mentioned, is a top prospect in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. He has been playing with Mora IK in HockeyAllsvenskan over in Sweden, a league he started playing in last year. He was a key part of Team Norway’s promotion last year and will continue to play an invaluable role as Norway looks to avoid relegation.
The returning players to Team Norway are Dalen, Wold, Vesterheim, Bakke Olsen, Løkkeberg, Magnussen, Steen, Johnsen, Kind Bakkevig, and Brandsegg-Nygård. These players will bring their experience to help the newer additions to Team Norway. Norway added Granath, Haugen Evensen, and Moldal Bah to their forward corps this year. Norway’s returning forwards will play a crucial part in keeping them in the top-tier division, anything above that finish is gravy.
Norway Looks to Stay in the Top-Tier Division
While I did say Norway’s returning forwards will help keep the team from being relegated back down to Division 1A, it is everyone returning from the 2023 team who plays a crucial role. The invaluable experiences of these players can be shared with the newcomers to Norway’s U20 team. While Norway isn’t expected to finish high in Group B, a win or two could shock fans watching the 2024 WJC.