The annual post-Christmas World Junior Championship (WJC) is where most NHL players were first able to showcase themselves on a massive stage. In fact, it could be argued that the New Jersey Devils could have selected Nolan Patrick over Nico Hischier in the 2017 NHL Draft, if it weren’t for Hischier’s tremendous WJC.
Fourteen out of 23 Devils on the active roster (60.8%) participated in the WJC before making their NHL debut. Some of them, like Dawson Mercer and Timo Meier, did so multiple times. Luke Hughes (USA) and Curtis Lazar (Canada) were captains of their squads, with the latter being named captain over Connor McDavid in 2015.
Collectively, the Devils’ current roster earned ten medals (two gold, four silver, four bronze). While he’s not on the active roster, Devils top prospect Seamus Casey won gold with the United States last year, notching six assists in six games.
Related: Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship
This year, the only Devils prospect to make their country’s roster is 18-year-old Herman Träff (Sweden, 2024 91st overall), who has nine points in 22 games playing professionally in Sweden. He’s 6-foot-3, 216 pounds, and could still potentially grow. He’s no stranger to getting involved in physical play, often getting into scrums and bulldozing his way into the crease to score. And that’s not all…he possesses a wicked shot.
Herman Traff is in the right place at the right time as he taps a rebound into the open net for his first career SHL goal. #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/WQWRqUBYhW
— Daniel Rebain 🇺🇲🇵🇱 (@pvtmcbain) October 1, 2024
The Hockey Writers spoke to Casey about his experience at the WJC, and offered some advice to anyone participating in future tournaments, emphasizing the importance of putting ego aside in favor of team success:
“World Juniors is so special. I think if you have the opportunity to play at World Juniors, it’s something so much bigger than yourself. The key to our success was that we had so many studs on our team, a lot of guys could have taken the ego route…I don’t think we had anyone that did. I think guys realize that it’s really not about you, and wherever you fit in to help, you’re going to win a gold medal if you play like that.”
That American team rostered ten first-round picks, many of them playing in limited roles despite being future NHL locks. It’s a tournament that brings about the rawest of emotions; in 2019, Jack Hughes was brought to tears after falling in a gold medal game heartbreaker to Finland.
The tournament begins on Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 5. This year’s edition will take place in Ottawa, Ontario, at both TD Place and Canadian Tire Centre.
