The World Junior Championship is a great opportunity for scouting the world's top teenage hockey players. At the same time, it's ultimately a five-to-seven-game tournament in which players have minimal time to learn the team's tactics and develop chemistry with linemates. Nonetheless, the games absolutely are informative.
"I don't think you can let the stage influence your assessment too much, but there's still information you can gather there," one NHL scout told Bleacher Report. "You have to remember it's still a six- or seven-game run in the course of a season where most of these kids will be playing 80 or so games.