"On the Fly," theScore's weekly NHL roundtable series, published every Friday, is keeping its sights set on the now-completed world juniors. Below are four players who caught our attention at the 11-day tournament.
MVP, Canada's Thomas Chabot
Craig Hagerman: "Average."
That's how Ottawa Senators assistant general manager Randy Lee described defenseman Thomas Chabot following the team's development camp in July. The brass was left largely unimpressed by the their 2015 first-round pick's showing.
Fast forward to the start of the regular season and Chabot had upped his game, beginning the year with the Senators. However, he played in only one of the team's first nine games before being sent back to junior.
After the past two weeks, it's safe to say there's nothing average about Chabot. The 19-year-old was a workhorse in every sense of the term, playing nearly 45 minutes Thursday night. He tied for the Canadian lead in scoring with 10 points, and had at least a point in each game.
Chabot was as reliable defensively as he was offensively, and in turn was named tournament MVP. He was the catalyst on a team that came as close as it gets to winning gold, and it's only be a matter of time before he's contributing regularly in the NHL.
Switzerland's Nico Hischier
Cory Wilkins: Hockey fans have been treated to dynamic talents at the top of the recent draft classes, from Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel in 2015, to Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine a year ago.
Unfortunately, the 2016 draft board doesn't have that same depth of game-breaking players, with most scouts considering this class the weakest since 2012. Still, there are some interesting up-and-comers in the mix, headlined by Brandon Wheat Kings center Nolan Patrick and Swedish defenseman Timothy Liljegren.
Neither player participated in the world juniors, with Patrick sidelined with a sports hernia injury and Liljegren not making the final cut for Sweden after a bout of mono interrupted the start of his season.
That set the stage for Swiss forward Nico Hischier, a product of the Halifax Mooseheads, who wrapped his world juniors performance with four goals and three assists in seven games. It's a continuation of his game in the QMJHL, where the slick winger has scored 48 points in 31 games. That sort of play put Hischier on the map and could see him challenge as the top pick next June.
Russia's Denis Guryanov
Justin Cuthbert: Kirill Kaprizov, if not the best player at the World Junior Hockey Championship, was certainly Russia's most important. But while he proved he can dominate at an U-20 level internationally, Denis Guryanov demonstrated the high-end talent required to score at the next level.
Guryanov was an indispensable forward for Russia, which won bronze, on the Dallas Stars' first-round pick's overtime winner against Sweden. After a slow start, he was brilliant throughout the knockout round. He scored all four of his goals in elimination games, including two in the semifinal loss to the U.S., a contest in which he also scored a gorgeous shootout goal.
We'll remember his overtime winner, but the "wow" moment came several shifts before when he stepped over the blue line and whistled an NHL-grade shot off the post behind a stunned Felix Sandstrom.
Guryanov is one to watch moving forward.
USA's Colin White
Navin Vaswani: Remember the days when Colin White was a boring, stay-at-home defenseman for the New Jersey Devils? Yeah, those days are done. Long gone.
There's a new and far more exciting Colin White on the scene, and like Chabot, he's an Ottawa Senators draft pick, 21st overall in 2015. And White appears to be a player.
The 19-year-old scored again Thursday, and it was huge, his goal tying the game 4-4 in the third period. And it was damn pretty, too, the forward showing off incredible hand-eye coordination to deflect a hard shot-pass past Carter Hart from a difficult angle.
White went into the world juniors with 10 goals in 18 games as a sophomore with Boston College, but exploded at the tournament. He scored seven times, finishing second only to Kirill Kaprizov (nine) for the tourney lead. His eight points tied for second on the U.S.
Almost more impressive than his stick was the way he went about his business. He seems like a real pain in the ass to play against, which is what the Sens need more of.
White wore an "A" for USA and was one of the team's leaders, and three of his 10 goals came in the medal round. What's not to like?
The future looks pretty decent in Ottawa.
Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.