World Junior Championship Group B preview

The 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship Group B field includes the silver- and bronze-medalists from 2016, as well as a hockey-fanatical host country, all in pursuit of gold at the 11-day tournament.
The 2017 WJC begins Monday with games in Toronto and Montreal and runs through Jan. 5, 2017.
Group B includes the United States, Russia, Canada, Latvia and Slovakia. They will play preliminary-round games at Air Canada Centre in Toronto beginning Monday.

Russia won the silver for a second straight tournament after losing 4-3 to Finland, the host country, in the 2016 gold-medal game. The U.S. defeated Sweden 8-3 to take home the bronze, its first medal since winning gold in 2013.
The 2017 U.S. team lacks some of the star power of recent years but still has plenty of talent.
"The strength of our team is our depth at the forward and goaltending position," U.S. coach Bob Motzko said. "We don't have the Auston Matthews or Jack Eichel or a bona fide No. 1 guy, but what we're seeing is tremendous depth and good hockey players. We have to play to our depth, and if the guys can all buy in it's going to be a difficult team to go against."
Canada won the gold medal in 2015, when the tournament also was held in Toronto and Montreal.
Here's a look at the Group B field (teams listed in alphabetical order):

Canada

Coach:Dominique Ducharme
2017 draft watch:None
Schedule: Dec. 26, Russia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 27, Slovakia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 29, Latvia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 31, United States (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN)
Outlook:The host country will field an experienced group with plenty of savvy and offensive flair in hopes of erasing memories of their disappointing finish in 2016, when Canada returned home without a medal for the third time in the past four tournaments. Goaltending shouldn't be an issue with Carter Hart (Philadelphia Flyers) and Connor Ingram (Tampa Bay Lightning) competing for playing time. Canada ranked ninth among 10 teams in save percentage (.849) and fifth in goals-against average (3.58) in the 2016 tournament, but Hart, who plays for Everett in the Western Hockey League, was the Canadian Hockey League goaltender of the year in 2015-16 and leads the WHL with a 1.85 GAA and is second with a .928 save percentage. Ingram, who plays for Kamloops, leads the WHL with a .935 save percentage. There are 10 first-round NHL draft picks on the roster, including captain Dylan Strome (Arizona Coyotes) and alternates Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders) and Thomas Chabot (Ottawa Senators).

Latvia

Coach:Eriks Miluns
2017 draft watch:Deniss Smirnovs, C, Geneve Jr. (SUI-JR); Kristians Rubins, D, Medicine Hat (WHL); Renars Krastenbergs, LW, Oshawa (OHL)
Schedule:Dec. 26, United States (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 27, Russia (4 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 29, Canada (8 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 30, Slovakia (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN)
Outlook:Players who could play a significant role are forwards Martins Dzierkals (Toronto Maple Leafs, No. 68, 2015) of Rouyn-Noranda in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Rudolfs Balcers (San Jose Sharks, No. 142, 2015) of Kamloops in the Western Hockey League, as well as defenseman Karlis Cukste (Sharks, No. 130, 2015) of Quinnipiac University.

Russia

Coach:Valeri Bragin
2017 draft watch:Alexander Polunin, LW, Yaroslavl (RUS)
Schedule:Dec. 26, Canada (8 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 27, Latvia (4 p.m. ET, NHLN); Dec. 29, United States (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 31, Slovakia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN).
Outlook: Russia has received solid goaltending in big spots, and the 2016 WJC was no exception when Ilya Samsonov (Washington Capitals, No. 22, 2015) backstopped the win against the United States in the semifinals. Bragin is back behind the Russia bench for his fifth World Junior Championship. Samsonov is one of four first-round NHL draft picks on the roster, along with defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (Montreal Canadiens, No. 9, 2016) and forwards German Rubtsov (Philadelphia Flyers, No. 22, 2016) and Denis Gurianov (Dallas Stars, No. 12, 2015). One player to watch is Polunin, who had three goals and 12 shots on goal at the 2016 WJC. Bragin might have Polunin (5-foot-9, 172 pounds) alongside left wing Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild), a returning player, and center Mikhail Vorobyov (Philadelphia Flyers).

Slovakia

Coach:Ernest Bokros
2017 draft watch:Samuel Bucek, LW, Shawinigan (QMJHL); Marian Studenic, RW, Hamilton (OHL); Adam Ruzicka, C, Sarnia (OHL)
Schedule:Dec. 27, Canada (8 p.m. ET, NHLN); Dec. 28, United States (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 30, Latvia (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 31, Russia (8 p.m. ET; NHLN).
Outlook: One player to keep an eye on is defenseman Erik Cernak (Los Angeles Kings, No. 43, 2015). Cernak often is compared to defenseman Michal Rozsival of the Chicago Blackhawks. Goaltender Matej Tomek (Philadelphia Flyers, No. 90, 2015) is in his second season at the University of North Dakota. Ruzicka (6-3, 202), 17, is a B-rated prospect on NHL Central Scouting's players to watch list for the 2017 draft. He has 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 32 OHL games.

United States

Coach:Bob Motzko
2017 draft watch:Jake Oettinger, G, Boston University (H-EAST); Jack Ahcan, D, St. Cloud State University (NCHC)
Schedule: Dec. 26, Latvia (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 28, Slovakia (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN); Dec. 29, Russia (3:30 p.m. ET, NHLN); Dec. 31, Canada (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN)
Outlook:The U.S. has plenty of strength and quickness in all areas. There are six players on the roster from Boston University, including first-round NHL draft picks Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes, No. 11, 2016) and Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins, No. 14, 2016). University of Wisconsin forward Luke Kunin (Minnesota Wild, No. 15, 2016) is captain; forward Colin White (Ottawa Senators, No. 21, 2015) of Boston College and McAvoy will serve as alternates. Motzko has stressed to his players the need to perform with what he called structured freedom. He wants them to understand the system in place without the puck in order to guarantee retrieval, but also has given them the green light to be creative and passionate with the puck in order to create offense.