5 recent world junior stars already making an impact in the NHL

One of the best things about the World Junior Championship is watching future NHL stars and top prospects test their skills on the international stage. Some surefire talents confirm their abilities, while other players' weaknesses are illuminated in the process.

A number of skaters who flashed their potential at the tournament in the last few years haven't taken long to become difference-makers at the NHL level. The league is loaded with young talent, and some of those burgeoning stars foreshadowed their future success with strong showings at the world juniors.

Here are five recent world junior standouts from no earlier than the 2019 tourney who've wasted little time cementing themselves as key players in the pros.

Trevor Zegras Codie McLachlan / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Before Zegras was a viral play-producing Calder Trophy finalist with the Anaheim Ducks, the Bedford, New York-born forward was a fixture in the U.S. program. He collected nine assists in five games for the Americans at the 2020 world junior tournament, showing plenty of promise despite his country's sixth-place finish.

Zegras broke out in the next year's event, racking up seven goals and 11 assists in seven games. He also scored his side's second goal in a 2-0 victory over Canada in the gold-medal game. Anaheim's ninth overall pick in 2019 was snubbed by the tournament brass for best forward in 2021, but the media named him tournament MVP and one of the top three forwards.

The Ducks phenom showed flashes of skill and creativity in 24 games with Anaheim and 17 more with the team's AHL affiliate in 2020-21 before sticking in the NHL the following campaign. If not for Detroit Red Wings defenseman and 2021-22 Rookie of the Year Moritz Seider, Zegras would've cruised to the Calder with 23 goals and 38 assists over 75 contests.

The now-21-year-old is producing at around the same clip for the Ducks in 2022-23. Zegras should only improve in the years to come, but let's not forget that his play at the world juniors helped to establish him as a future star.

Tim Stutzle Codie McLachlan / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Stutzle - the beneficiary of the Zegras snub in 2021 - had himself quite a tournament. He joined his American counterpart as one of the media's top three forwards, producing five goals and five assists in five games. The German center helped his country reach the quarterfinals by building on his five-assist performance over five contests at the 2020 event.

Stutzle has made a fairly smooth transition to the NHL since debuting for the Ottawa Senators in January 2021. The 2020 third overall pick finished ninth in Calder voting in 2020-21 after registering 29 points in 53 games. He took another step forward in 2021-22, tallying 22 goals and 36 assists across 79 contests, and he's been even better this season, notching nearly a point per game.

Stutzle, who'll turn 21 next month, stood out at the world juniors before becoming an instrumental piece of the Senators' promising, young core and a key building block for the franchise.

Spencer Knight Codie McLachlan / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Knight has gone from being the future in the Florida Panthers' crease to very much the present this season. But before he arrived on the NHL scene, the talented goaltender played a major part in the United States' 2021 gold-medal victory.

The Connecticut-born netminder went 6-1-0 with three shutouts in that tourney, allowing only nine goals for a .940 save percentage. He would've surely been named goaltender of the tournament had Canada's Devon Levi not also gone 6-1-0 with a save percentage of .964.

Knight has blossomed into an above-average NHL puck-stopper since then. Most impressively, he's carved out a significant chunk of playing time despite competing for starts with Sergei Bobrovsky, who Florida handed a mammoth contract in the summer of 2019, less than two weeks after they drafted Knight 13th overall.

Pyotr Kochetkov Kevin Light / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Kochetkov is one of the NHL's early breakout stars this season, but some may forget how well he played at the world juniors. The Carolina Hurricanes netminder went 4-1-0 with a .953 save percentage for Russia at the 2019 event. He helped his country claim bronze while surrendering only seven goals in total.

The IIHF brass named him goaltender of the tournament for his efforts, and the now-23-year-old continued his upward trajectory after that. Kochetkov further displayed his potential in the KHL and AHL before being forced into action for Carolina due to injuries to Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta during the playoffs last spring.

Kochetkov has taken another leap in 2022-23 amid yet another Andersen injury, providing stability in the crease and grabbing the Canes' No. 1 job in the process. His dominance at the world juniors provided a glimpse of what he'd accomplish years later in the pros.

Dylan Cozens Codie McLachlan / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Cozens is in the midst of a breakout campaign of his own with the Buffalo Sabres. He's posting nearly a point per game and playing a big part in his club's surprising transformation into the NHL's best offense (yes, that still feels weird to write). But before he arrived on the scene at the highest level, the "Workhorse from Whitehorse" was one of the most productive Canadian players in world junior history.

The now-21-year-old racked up 10 goals and 15 assists over 14 games in his two world junior tournaments (2020 and 2021), including eight tallies and eight helpers over seven contests in the latter event.

Cozens helped Canada win gold in his first go-around and then served as a Canada co-captain in 2021 following Kirby Dach's injury. That squad settled for silver, but the media named Cozens one of the top three forwards along with Zegras and Stutzle. Cozens' international pedigree surely helped set him up for NHL success.

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