Of the three Avs forwards, Rantanen is the most experienced in international play, as this will be his third consecutive World Championship. At the 2017 tournament in Germany and France, he led Finland with four goals and finished second in points (10) in 10 games en route to a fourth-place finish. A year prior, Rantanen chipped in one assist in five contests to help his country capture the silver medal.
Earlier in 2016, the young Finnish forward captained the team to gold at the World Junior Championship in Helsinki, a little over a hundred miles from his hometown of Nousiainen. In seven games, he tallied five points (two goals, three assists), including a goal in the gold-medal game against Russia.
Rantanen, who will be an alternate captain on this year's Finnish squad, had himself a career year in his second NHL campaign with Colorado during 2017-18, recording new highs in goals (29), assists (55) and points (84). He became just the fourth Finnish-born and trained player in NHL history to surpass the 80-point mark in one season.
Andrighetto will represent Switzerland at the World Championship for the second time in his career. The Zurich native recorded a team-high seven points (three goals, four assists) in seven games at the 2016 tournament in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia. Before that, the speedy forward represented his country at the 2012 and 2013 World Junior Championships. He led Switzerland with five goals and eight points in six games at the 2013 World Juniors in Russia.
While he missed almost half the season due to a lower-body injury, Andrighetto still notched 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 50 contests for the Avalanche, setting career highs in goals, assists, points and games played.
This will be Jost's first World Championship, but the 20-year-old is no stranger to international competition. At the 2017 World Junior Championship in Montreal and Toronto, Jost tallied four points (one goal, three assists) in seven games and won a silver medal. Jost also captained Team Canada at the 2016 Under-18 World Championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the same place the young forward played collegiate hockey at the University of North Dakota.
The St. Albert, Alberta, native led the entire 2016 U18 tournament by tallying 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in seven contests, setting a new Canadian record for scoring at the event. Jost was named the tournament's Best Forward and was selected to the media all-star team.
In his first full season with the Avalanche, Jost tallied 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 65 games.
Francouz, who signed a one-year contract with the Avalanche on Wednesday, has represented the Czech Republic at four previous World Championships. He appeared in four games at last year's Worlds, putting together a 3-1 record, 1.49 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. He was also a member of the Czech's Olympic squad at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February. He helped Czechia to a fourth-place finish after posting a 4-2 record, 2.27 goals-against average and .905 save percentage in six contests.
The Plzen, Czech Republic, native has played the last three seasons with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia. He had a 15-11-5 record, 1.80 goals-against average and .946 save percentage in 35 contests during the 2017-18 regular season.
Jost and Canada open play against the United States on Friday. The other three players begin their tournaments on Saturday when the Czech Republic squares off against Slovakia, Finland takes on South Korea and Switzerland faces Austria.
