The 2022 World Juniors are set to resume yet again, but there will be some significant names missing at the tournament. Prospects such as Owen Power, Shane Wright, Matty Beniers and Jake Sanderson won't be in Edmonton for this portion of the competition.
As always, each team has to go through and make some cuts for their final roster. However, these World Juniors will be the most different personnel-wise out of any of the previous tournaments.
Because of the unique timing of the competition, there are some players who will be skipping out on the event. Certain players have decided to focus on NHL training camps coming up and don't want to risk an injury, others are coming off longer playoff runs that ran right into NHL development camps, and will use August to take a breather.
While there will be plenty of the top teenagers still competing in Edmonton, certain teams will most definitely feel the losses of their absent players more than others.
MORE: Schedule, scores, results for all 2022 World Juniors games
Here is a look at the notable players who will not be present for the 2022 World Juniors.
Notable players not participating at the 2022 World Juniors
Canada
Out of all of the teams participating at the World Juniors, perhaps no team will be losing as much star power as Canada. Nine total players from the December team will not be in Edmonton this August, including their captain and two assistants.
Forwards Xavier Bourgault, Mavrik Bourque, Dylan Guenther, Jake Neighbours, Cole Perfetti, Justin Sourdif, Wright, and defensemen Kaiden Guhle and Power are all absent from Canada's roster. Perfetti and Neighbours had both previously announced that they would not play in the tournament. Guhle, Guenther and Sourdif are still recovering from injuries. The rest are likely focusing on the upcoming NHL training camps in the fall and using August as a break.
Of course, Canada's stock of prospects is never barren, and while the losses of some like Perfetti, Neighbours, Wright, Guhle and Power will hurt more than others, they still will be one of the top teams at the tournament.
MORE: Top 10 NHL prospects participating at the 2022 World Juniors
USA
The United States are bringing back most of the same roster that it had in December, however, they will be without their No. 1 forward, No. 1 defenseman and No. 1 goalie.
Beniers, Sanderson and Drew Commesso all decided against playing for Team USA at the restarted event. Beniers and Sanderson don't come as a shock, as it's very likely they will be on NHL rosters by the time the start of the season rolls around in October.
Commesso's decision not to join the USA squad raises some eyebrows, as he was the clear starter before and is going back to Boston University this fall for his junior year. However, it was reported that it was his choice not to play in Edmonton.
Slovakia
Sure, Canada and the United States losing out on some of their top players are tough blows, but the depth both countries have is so bountiful, that it shouldn't really affect either team that much.
That's not the case with a country like Slovakia, and their junior team is going to be hurting this August. Forwards Juraj Slafkovsky, Filip Mesar and Martin Chromiak, along with defenseman Simon Nemec, all will not be partaking in the 2022 World Juniors. Slafkovsky and Nemec went No. 1 and No. 2 overall to the Canadiens and Devils, respectively, at the 2022 NHL Draft, while Mesar was taken later in the first round by the Canadiens. Chromiak is a 2020 fifth-round pick by the Kings.
Slafkovsky and Nemec aren't total surprises as they will be competing to make their NHL rosters this fall. Mesar's absence is intriguing, but it was reportedly a personal choice of his to skip the World Juniors. Chromiak snagged headlines with two goals against the USA during the canceled tournament in December but is missing the August competition due to a health issue.
Sweden
Sweden will be missing two of its top players from its original December roster, as William Eklund and Alexander Holtz have elected not to join the Swedish junior team in Edmonton.
Eklund, the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft by the Sharks, was a part of the preliminary roster that Sweden put out in July. However, after meeting with San Jose, he decided instead to prepare for training camp, with a goal on San Jose's NHL roster in mind.
The same goes for Holtz, who was taken No. 7 overall by the Devils in 2020. The forward already participated at the 2020 and 2021 World Juniors and was a late addition to the first 2022 roster in December, with the Devils permitting him to go. Now, he's in the same boat as Eklund, focusing on the upcoming training camp where he hopes to make the Devils' top squad.
MORE: Full rosters for all 10 teams at 2022 World Juniors
Finland
The Finns are bringing back a ton of the power from the December version of their roster. However, Joel Blomqvist is the most notable omission in net.
The Penguins' draft pick had long been regarded as the top goalie in his class, but fell out of favor with Finland's coaching staff, seeing no action in either game during this past winter. Blomqvist revealed in an interview in June that the coaching staff felt he chose the NHL over the national team and was not invited to their roster as a result.
He had an extremely strong end to the 2021-22 season and should have at the very least competed with Leevi Merilainen for the starting role.
Switzerland
The Swiss are in for enough of a struggle as is for the 2022 tournament. Now they will have to compete without arguably their best player from the December squad.
Lian Bichsel, who was taken No. 18 overall in the 2022 draft by the Stars, will not be participating in the World Juniors. The defenseman was not a participant at either of the national team's selection camps this summer, despite being invited. While Bichsel expressed interest in joining the team for the tournament in Edmonton, Switzerland elected not to put him on the roster since he was not at either of the camps in preparation for the World Juniors.
It's a big blow to not just the blue line, but the entire team, however, the Swiss coaching staff was adamant about not making exceptions for any player. As a result, Bichsel will be sitting back in Switzerland watching his countrymen playing in Edmonton.
MORE: Why is Russia not participating at the 2022 World Juniors?
Austria
Like Switzerland, Austria is in for an uphill battle at the World Juniors and will be down two of their top players at the tournament. Marco Kasper, who was the captain of the team in the winter, and Vinzenz Rohrer will not be participating this August in the event. Kasper was taken with the No. 8 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft by the Red Wings, while Rohrer was a third-round pick this summer by the Canadiens.
When the Austrian Ice Hockey Association made its roster announcement, the organization added that "due to the heavy workload of the last few months, Marco Kasper and Vinzenz Rohrer will be taking a break in August."
