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While traditionally seen as a “19-year-olds tournament,” the World Junior Hockey Championship has proven a prime stage for 17- and 18-year-old prospects to boost their stock well in advance of the NHL Draft in June. This years tournament promises a little bit of everything in terms of prospect showcasing. Canadian fans may be distracted by watching the evolution of NHL prospects like Jonathan Drouin and Bo Horvat, or even the play of 16-year-old 2015 Draft prospect Connor McDavid, but the best players available this June may also be playing for Canada. If you look at the latest 2014 prospect rankings – be it TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie, the International Scouting Service or TSN Director of Scouting Craig Buttons rankings – the top two names are consistent, and Canadian. Sam Reinhart and Aaron Ekblad. Both players are currently taking part in the selection camp for the Canadian World Junior team in Copenhagen, hoping to earn a spot on the final roster for the tournament in Malmo, Sweden. So what can Canadian fans expect from the pair? Button calls Reinhart – a six-foot-one centre for the Kootenay Ice – “A high end player with exceptional hockey sense.” “He makes others around him better and is able to play multiple positions and situations without any decline in his game,” Button told TSN.ca. “Hes a leader who ‘just plays and does so when it matters and on a consistent basis.” Ekblad, meanwhile, is a player thats had high pedigree from the age of 15. He became just the second player in the history of the Ontario Hockey League (after current New York Islanders captain John Tavares) to be granted ‘exceptional player status and early entry into the league via the OHL Priority Selection. Ekblad was six-foot-three and 205 pounds at 15. The Barrie Colts list him an inch taller and 12 pounds heavier now on their web site, making him a physical force against junior opposition. “Hes a highly dependable, very consistent player who is able to play not only lots of minutes in the game but the important ones,” said Button. “He has a big time intensity to his game that is surrounded by rare calm and poise.” But Canada is not the only team that will be looking to Draft-eligible skill in hopes of bringing home gold from Malmo. The first among those is the team that would have the least distance to go for their victory celebration: the host Swedes. Sweden has some top NHL prospects on their selection roster including Montreal Canadiens prospect Sebastian Collberg, Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Alexander Wennberg and the expected addition of Carolina Hurricanes forward Elias Lindholm. But the hidden weapon in their arsenal could be 17-year-old Frolunda winger Anton Karlsson, ranked sixth in the latest draft rankings by both Button and the ISS. Button calls Karlsson “a leader in his age group. That leadership is from an on-ice presence that gives him a way to contribute to winning in many different forms.” Another Draft-eligible name to watch in Malmo might be familiar to hockey fans over a certain age: Kasperi Kapanen - son of former Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers winger Sami Kapanen – is a good bet to make the Finnish team. Does he compare to his 25-plus-goal-scoring father? “Hes very skilled yet can impact the game in many ways,” Button said. “His approach to playing could be compared to Patrick Sharp.” So, maybe Kapanens not his 25-plus-goal father … but possibly the 30-plus-goal Sharp. Theres one final player to watch and, hey, heres something new: Hes on the German team. Germany has traditionally taken a beating at the World Juniors. They avoided relegation in 2013, finishing ninth out of 10 teams, marking the first time since 1997 that the team went to the tournament and was not relegated. This year, though, the team boasts a player ranked fourth in McKenzies pre-season draft rankings: Prince Albert Raiders winger Leon Draisaitl. The six-foot-one, 209-pounder has put up 51 points in 33 games in the WHL this season. Button had high praise for his skill and physicality. “Good luck pushing him out of the game,” Button told TSN.ca. “He wants to impact the game in some form and he usually does. Without a real strong supporting cast around on the National Team level, it is left to him, and he always delivers.” Keep an eye out for him as Germany opens the 2014 tournament against Canada on Dec. 26. Watch it live on TSN at 7am et/4am pt. Lonnie Johnson Jersey . 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Cullen Gillaspia Jersey . -- Chad Labelle scored the winner 17:36 into the third period to give Medicine Hat a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday and lift the Tigers into the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs.MONTREAL - Both the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks put their losing streaks aside for a while on Monday to pay tribute to hockey great Jean Beliveau.Like thousands of Montreal fans who streamed into the Bell Centre for public visitation on Sunday and Monday, players and coaches from both clubs stopped in to pause by the casket on display at centre ice and give condolences to Beliveaus family, led by his tireless wife Elise who greeted every visitor.The legendary Canadiens captain died last week at 83, while the team was away on a road trip. The club held off remembrance ceremonies, including the funeral at Mary Queen of the World cathedral on Wednesday, until they got back.The message from me and my teammates was that it was such an honour to be in the same room as them, said Canadiens alternate captain Max Pacioretty. I told her how much respect me and my teammates have for her and her husband.And going forward, we have to play in honour of him, and hes looking after us. It was a tough morning, but it was nice to see current and former players show up and show their respect.The arena had been turned into a giant, sombre funeral home for two days, but it will revert to a hockey rink when the Canadiens play host to the Canucks on Tuesday night.The club is keeping secret the details of its tributes to Beliveau before and during the game, but they confirmed that the seat behind the Montreal bench that Le Gros Bil occupied for nearly every home game will be left vacant. His No. 4 jersey has been draped over the seat during the visitations.The Canucks, who will wind up a seven-game road trip, cancelled their practice and visited the Bell Centre.Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins, who has family roots in Quebec, was touched by the experience.To my father, Jean Beliveau was the best and when I started playing hockey, I wore No. 4 for Jean Beliveau, said Desjardins. It wasnt just because he was a great player, it was the way he carried himself and how he approached the game.With all those great things, though, inside there was a winner. He always found a way. Its sad when you see the No. 4 on that seat and you wonder. Its a big loss for our game.Todays players are too young to have seen Beliveau on the ice. He won 10 Stanley Cups with the Canadiens from 1950 to 1971 and is regarded as perhaps the greatest captain in the teams 105-year history.But they know what he represented to the sport and to millions of fans.Canucks forward Alex Burrows said Beliveau was his grandmothers favourite.My grandma, just outside Montreal, growing up here, listened to every game on the radio or on TV and every time she talked about the Canadiens it was witth a lot of passion, he said.dddddddddddd. And Jean Beliveau was mentioned in every topic, so he was a great leader for the Canadiens.For us, it was the least that we could do to pay our respects to his family and be here.The Canucks were coming off a 4-3 overtime loss in Ottawa in which they blew a three-goal lead on Sunday night. That followed a 5-2 defeat in Toronto the previous night, although they are a respectable 3-2-1 on their road trip.It has gone much worse of late for Montreal, which has lost three in a row and is 1-5-1 in its last seven.Coach Michel Therrien juggled his lines late in a 4-1 loss in Dallas on Saturday and had the new units together in practice on Monday afternoon.They included moving 20-year-old phenom Alex Galchenyuk from left wing to centre between Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher, while second-line centre Tomas Plekanecs new wingers are rookies Jiri Sekac and Sven Andrighetto.David Desharnais, who has been Paciorettys centre for most of the last three seasons, was dropped to the third unit with P.A. Parenteau and speedy grinder Michael Bournival.Pacioretty said it was time for a change because his unit, on which Desharnais almost always passed and Pacioretty would always shoot, may have become too predictable.At times in a season, things go stale and thats whats happening now, said Pacioretty. Weve got to try to change things up, find a spark.It gives you a fresh feeling. It almost feels like day one of training camp. Personally, Im excited to just go out and try something new.Skating with Galchenyuk has possibilities. The slick stickhandler and shooter should take some of the scoring pressure off Pacioretty, who leads the club with 12 goals.Im going to tell him instead of making that extra move, play the odds and put it on net, said Pacioretty. He has a really good wrist shot and maybe Id like to see him use it a little quicker than he has in the past.You make that decision as soon as you get the puck whether youre going to pass, shoot or deke. Once he gets to that stage, hes going to be deadly. Playing with Gallagher, maybe we can get him to that point.The line changes were prompted by an upper body injury, believed to be a shoulder problem, to centre Lars Eller. Therrien said Eller went for tests but it was not yet known how long he would be missing.The injury led to Andrighetto being called up from AHL Hamilton and the diminutive Swiss forward scored a goal in his first NHL game in Dallas.Defenceman Mike Weaver is also out with a concussion, and veteran blue-liner Sergei Gonchar missed practice with an illness. Montreal called up Nathan Beaulieu from Hamilton to reinforce the blue-line. ' ' '