Team Canada announced their camp roster for the 2016 World U20 championships, with the other nations likely to follow shortly. As a lead up to the additional announcements we’ll take a look at the Jets prospects who have the best chance of representing their birth countries over the new year.

Spacek made the Czech team last year as a 17 year old during a season where he was a regular in the Czech professional league. He only managed one point in the tournament but the Czech team as a whole had very balanced scoring with the exception of standout David Pastrnak. While Pastrnak may be unavailable due to being in the NHL with the Bruins, Spacek should be counted on to be a significant part of the Czech offense this year along with fellow 2015 draftees Pavel Zacha, and Filip Chlapik, and 2014 drafted Jakub Vrana.

Niku also played in the tournament prior to being drafted, though it was in a somewhat limited role as he was the youngest member of team Finland’s defense. That being said, every other defender from last years team has aged out at this point so Sami will be thrust into a prominent position and counted on to provide leadership as a returning player. He was also a member of the team that Finland sent to the USA evaluation camp tournament at lake placid this summer and has been a regular player in Finland’s top men’s league this season.

Kyle Connor was not a member of the US NTDP but he was a prolific USHL scorer. Connor has had a strong start to his freshman NCAA season with Michigan and is currently tied for the team lead in points with 12 in 11 games. Team USA’s forward group this season looks to be young and very offensively talented and Connor should fit in very well with the speed and skill he possesses. Connor was also invited to the USA summer development camp and had a strong showing there.

Jack Roslovic has gotten off to a very strong start as a NCAA freshman. His 15 points in 14 games to lead the Redhawks looks good enough on its own, but considering that his team has only scored 30 total goals to this point it really illustrates how Roslovic has been a key component to his teams offense. Roslovic spent the previous season skating with the US NTDP team and has a strong chemistry with two other players who will likely be playing key offensive roles for team USA in Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk. All of this combined should put Roslovic in a strong position to be donning the red white and blue this year.

Kraskovsky isn’t as flashy as the other names on this list but he has been a regular in the KHL as an 18/19 year old and has a history of playing for Russia internationally. Kraskovsky played on the under-18 team two seasons ago and was a member of team Russia’s entry to the Subway super series that played against the CHL teams last season and accorded himself quite well there. He had hopes of making the U20 team last season but in the end did not make it as they took a mostly older forward group. Don’t expect Kraskovsky to be putting up big numbers but as a bottom 6 center who’s strong defensively he has a good chance of being part of this group.

Erik Foley looked like a decent bet a couple months ago when he had a strong summer development camp with team USA. His play made him look like a good bet for a bottom-6 grind sort of role that could also chip in some offense. Since then however things haven’t looked as good, Foley was injured early in his NCAA season and has had trouble scoring on a deep Providence team since his return. His strong summer play may earn him an invite to this camp but he’ll be in tough to earn a spot on what should be a very deep forward group for team USA.

Harkins had a very good draft season, scoring well over a point per game in the WHL and being his teams primary offensive threat. With some additional team depth acquired over the off-season Jansen looked primed to have a very good post-draft year. To this point however the offense hasn’t materialized, and Harkins slow start may have played him out of contention for an invite to a very deep team Canada. He did however play for team WHL at the recent Subway super series and had a good showing there, and his scoring has picked up for Prince George as of late. Really though, team Canada’s group is the toughest to crack and Harkins was a bit of a long shot from the get go. Next season as a 19 year old Harkins should have a better opportunity to be a strong contributor.

Mason Appleton was a bit of an unknown coming into this past draft. Though he was eligible in 2014 he went unranked by CSS the past two years while playing in US high school and then posting mediocre numbers in the USHL. This season however has seen him off to a very strong start in the NCAA, currently tied for his team lead in points with 13 in 13 games. Appleton began the year as Michigan State’s first line center, and though he’s been moved to wing the ice time has stayed the same and the production keeps coming. While it would be a nice story to see a previously unknown 6th round draft pick make the team, realistically USA’s depth will be too much. Appleton would need to be deployed in a scoring role and there are too many great players ahead of him. Unfortunately for Mason as well he turns 20 shortly after the tournament will end so this will be his last opportunity to play as a junior.