Detroit — Do you miss Red Wings hockey?
Well, good news. You’re about to get a taste of the Red Wings’ future.
While the rest of the hockey world is just beginning to settle in until mid-September, prospects from around the league are getting ready for their moment in the sun at this year’s IIHF World Junior Championship (Aug. 9-20) in Edmonton, Alberta, in just a few weeks.
And once again, you’ll be wanting to keep an eye on Team Sweden to catch several future Red Wings in action. Forward Theodor Niederbach and defensemen Simon Edvinsson and William Wallinder are all expected to compete for the Swedes.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is one of the people who’s most excited to see the trio in action.
“It’s fantastic for players to go into these world junior tournaments,” Yzerman said. “They’re great experiences individually for them, but also in their development as hockey players playing in big games, do-or-die games, and under the pressure, I think is great.”
On its face, there’s an argument to be made that competing at World Juniors is an international experience second only to playing in the Olympics, which the NHL hasn’t competed in since 2014.
Through all the uncertainty about when, where and if these last few tournaments would be played — the tournament in December played a handful of games before COVID-19 forced it to be rescheduled for August — nobody is taking the opportunity for granted.
“When I was a little kid, I always wanted to play (in the World Junior Championship),” Edvinsson said. “I just played two games, so yeah, that hunger goes a little bit more.”
For Edvinsson, specifically, the World Juniors are a primer for a chaotic couple of months that lie ahead. Yzerman said that he can’t think of a better environment for Edvinsson to prepare for trying to make the Wings’ opening-night roster.
“What a better way to prepare for training camp (than) playing in a highly important tournament, a highly competitive tournament,” Yzerman said. “We’ll just kind of let the whole thing play itself out, but the World Juniors will be a great stepping stone coming into training camp to try and make a good impression and earn a spot on the team.”
Niederbach downplayed the excitement that he had for the tournament, but maybe it’s because it’ll be his second time participating. He had two goals in five games during the 2021 World Juniors, playing between fellow Red Wings prospect Lucas Raymond and another top draft pick, Alexander Holtz (New Jersey Devils).
“I’m just happy to get ready here to be as good as possible,” Niederbach said. “When the tournament starts, you always give all you have, but we haven’t (thought) about it too much. … It’s been a long summer. And then maybe now we start to think about World Juniors.”
For Wallinder, a second-round pick in 2020, there’s a little bit of serendipity in his upcoming appearance. He was ruled ineligible for the 2021 tournament due to a positive COVID test and didn’t make the roster for the tournament that started in December. Due to some shuffling amongst the roster between now and then, he’ll finally get his chance to wear the three crowns.
“It feels pretty good,” Wallinder said. “I missed it two times, one with COVID and I got left off the second year. It’s nice to finally get the chance to play. It’s been a dream.”
Sweden is in Group B of the tournament with the United States, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The preliminary round begins on Aug. 9, with Sweden making its tournament debut on Aug. 10 against Switzerland.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi