Team Czechia Players to Watch at 2024 WJC

Team Czechia’s roster is ready and finalized for the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC) in Gothenburg, Sweden. Czechia has a lot of familiar faces in their last year of eligibility, which is partly why they made the gold medal game against Team Canada last year. Team Czechia has always been a sleeper when it comes to great talent and some of the players that will be listed are either NHL draft picks or are looking to show their talent to prove their worth it for an NHL team. – remove repetition and fix errors.

Some names to look out for are goaltender Michael Hrabal, forwards Eduard Šalé and Jiří Kulich, and defenseman Adam Jiřiček. Some of these players are new to the tournament and will look to push the Czechs back into the final, this time finishing with the gold medal around their necks. Here’s a look at the players to watch.

Jiří Kulich

Kulich is the best forward on this squad, returning from an incredible performance in last year’s WJC tournament, sparking the comeback in the gold medal game that pushed Czechia to overtime. He’s the full package, as the only player on the roster with at least one game of NHL and AHL (American Hockey League) experience.

He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres, 28th overall, in the 2022 NHL Draft and played his first NHL game in November. He also earned a full season of playing time in the AHL with the Rochester Americans (including playoffs) last season, adapting quickly to more competitive opponents and finishing top five on the team in scoring last season (46 points). He leads the team in scoring this season with 22 points in 22 games.

His ability to create opportunities off the boards and use his speed to reach the offensive zone are things to look forward to in this tournament and are why he will be relied upon by Czechia to score goals. Kulich finished as Czechia’s leading scorer in last year’s tournament with nine points, leading the team in goals (7), and he earned a spot on the 2023 WJC All-Star Team.

Eduard Šalé

Don’t sleep on Šalé. He is the second option on the Czechia roster for generating an offensive threat, especially if he’s on a line with Kulich. The Seattle Kraken first-rounder is returning for his second year in this tournament, and it would have been a major surprise if he wasn’t on this roster. His speed and puck-handling ability are crucial to Czechia’s offense if they…