The 2024 IIHF World Juniors Championship (WJC) is only two days away, and the road to Gothenburg, Sweden, is vastly approaching. 10 of the world’s best teams are converging on Sweden for the first time since 2014, and it looks to be a stacked and talent-heavy tournament to finish off 2023 and kick-off 2024. What makes the tournament so exciting is that it’s a week-and-a-half long run-and-gun style of schedule that starts on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) and ends on Jan. 5. Team Germany announced their 2024 WJC 23-man roster on Saturday, Dec. 23, and it has a good mix of former WJC players along with some new faces.
Team Germany is bringing three NHL-drafted players to Sweden, along with a couple of other players who are playing in North America for their 2023-24 seasons. Furthermore, they do bring back their only goalie from the 2023 WJC team that was in Canada last year. The big thing for them is how the defense will play with Germany essentially bringing all new faces outside of their captain for this year’s 2024 WJC. The forward group looks to be the most talented and stacked group of the bunch. Who are the guys to keep an eye on for the 2024 WJC?
Phillip Sinn
Phillip Sinn is one of the main guys on defense that is coming back from the 2023 WJC team that played in Halifax and Moncton last year. The 19-year-old Mannheim native is named captain for the 2024 WJC squad and a guy who looks to build off of his current form this year with RB Hockey Juniors of the AlpsHL. For the 2023-24 season, Sinn has two goals and five points in five games. He is projected to finish with 20 points in 20 games, hopefully tallying eight goals in the process. He has also played 19 games for EC Salzburg in the ICEHL, tallying one goal and three points in 19 games.
Related: 2024 Guide to the World Junior Championship
In the 2023 WJC, Sinn had one goal and three points in five games played and looks to have a deeper run for this 2024 WJC team. He has the potential to help lead the way for Team Germany, who look to have a better finish than last year’s eighth-place placement in the tournament. Germany has not finished better than 5th since the 1981 WJC when they hosted the tournament in Fussen, West Germany. Sinn does give them some flexibility in some line combinations because he can play forward and defenseman. That could be a strategy head coach Tobias Abstreiter could use at his disposal.
Julian Lutz
One of the main forwards that Germany will hope to lead the way for them in the 2023 WJC is Arizona Coyotes draftee Julian Lutz. Lutz was drafted by the Coyotes 43rd overall in the second round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. The 19-year-old in the 2023 WJC had two points in five games played, all assists. Lutz has been named as an assistant captain to help Sinn be a leader for the 2024 WJC team coming into Sweden this week. He looks to carry the momentum that he has been on playing for the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League (USHL). So far, during the 2023-24 season with the Gamblers, he has tallied 10 goals and 23 points in 19 games played. He is currently projected to play in 56 games in the USHL and finish with 29 goals and 67 points.
Lutz is arguably the best player coming into the 2024 WJC for Team Germany due to his production and his high upside. The way he is playing right now gives a sense of why the Coyotes picked him so high in the 2022 draft as a player from EV Ravensburg in Germany. The best case for Germany is to possibly place him on a line with center Julius Sumpf, who has also been playing very well in the QMJHL this season.
Julius Sumpf
Probably one of the sleeper centers coming into the 2024 WJC is Julius Sumpf, who has been playing with the Monton Wildcats of the QMJHL. Sumpf, so far this 2023-24 season, has tallied 11 goals and 28 points in 30 games for the Wildcats. During the 2023 U18 WJC where he was an assistant captain, he had two goals for four points in six games played. The 19-year-old Munchen native looks to carry his momentum from the QMJHL like Lutz and help lead Germany to a higher finish in this year’s WJC.
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In Moncton, he is currently shooting at a 16.2% clip and winning 47.8% of his faceoffs. The Wildcats usually have been slotting him as either the 2C or 3C in their lineups this season in the QMJHL. Sumpf could likely be slotted on the top line alongside Lutz, and those two could become possibly a sneaky 1-2 combo for the Germans in Group A of the 2024 WJC. They will have their work cut out for them, though, as they will have to face host Sweden, Finland, Latvia, and heavy favorites in Canada, who looked stacked all around. However, if Sumpf, along with Lutz, can carry the impact that they’ve shown in North America in the USHL & the QMJHL, they could steal some games this tournament.
Luca Hauf
As one of the few 2023 WJC players who will participate in the 2024 WJC this year, Luca Hauf looks to contribute more this year. During the 2023 WJC in Canada, he only had one point in five games played before Germany got eliminated in the Quarter-Finals. This season with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Hauf has 10 goals and 16 points in 25 games in the WHL. He was an import draftee by the Edmonton Oilers back in the 2022 draft at spot 59. Another guy who is currently playing in North America in the CHL, the 19-year-old Krefeld native wants to prove that he belongs in the German national system and that he can play at the next level after juniors in Seattle.
As mentioned before, he is one of the returning guys from the 2023 WJC team, and it will be interesting as how Tobias Abstreiter will use him in the lineup. The first game of the 2024 WJC is on Wednesday, Dec. 27 versus Finland. This will be a good test for Hauf to be a guy that Germany can lean on in this tournament.
Norwin Panocha
The last main player to keep an eye on is Buffalo Sabres draftee Norwin Panocha. Panocha was drafted 205th overall in the 7th round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. He is currently playing in the QMJHL with Chicoutimi Saguenéens. In 30 games with Saguenéens, he has tallied 11 points, all assists for them during the 2023-24 season. He is projected to finish with 23 assists in 63 games. He is one of three current German players who are on NHL prospect lists. Alongside him is the aforementioned Lutz and Detroit Red Wings prospect Kevin Bicker.
Panocha will be looking to help the defense, who are mainly all new faces, play a structured game in a heavy Group A in the 2024 WJC. They will have their work cut out for them this tournament. It will be a fun watch to see how the recent NHL draftee will fair in his first U20 WJc after playing the U18 tournament last year tallying two goals and three points in six games.
Honorable Mention & Final Thought
The last player that has to be mentioned is returning forward Veit Oswald. Oswald was named as the other assistant captain alongside Lutz to help the leadership of Germany with Sinn this 2024 WJC. During the 2023 WJC, Oswald had one goal and two points in five games. He currently is playing for EHC Munchen in the DEL for the 2023/24 season and has tallied five goals and seven points in 24 games played. Oswald is another of the few returning players from the 2023 WJC team and a part of the forward core that could help steal some games for Germany this tournament.
There are some definite questions for Team Germany coming into the 2024 WJC in Sweden. The goaltending only has one netminder coming back in Simon Wolf, who only played a few games during the 2023 WJC. The defense has mainly all new faces outside of their captain in Sinn. Germany’s forward core is the most complete group with more returning faces. They will mainly have to lean heavily on Lutz and Sumpf to lead the way, but they do have some help in Hauf and possibly Bicker. It will come down to Germany playing a strong structured game to keep the other teams from beating them to the net.
If Germany can keep the stronger teams from playing their games, they might have a chance to steal some games for the 2024 WJC. Germany, over the last few years, has been building itself as an up-and-coming nation in the hockey world. A strong finish in the 2024 WJC will go a long way for the Germans moving forward. Germany has the potential to be a dark horse to make some noise this 2024 WJC in Sweden. Keep an eye on the Germans over the next week and a half.
