Capitals prospect Kuznetsov simply stellar 
CALGARY -- For NHL scouts, one of the major attractions of the annual U-20 World Jr. Championship is the quality of some highly ranked draft-eligible players taking part. In order to make the all-star rosters usually dominated by 19-year-olds, the draft eligible players have already demonstrated their skill sets to be a cut above, so they already stand out. When scouts sit in the stands to watch these games though, they want to see those young, elite talents stand out against competition that is older and often more developed than they are.
But the tournament also provides opportunities to watch the progress of players who have already been selected in the draft, and before we continue with our look at the top 2012 prospects playing in the World Juniors, it's hard to ignore the performance of a 2010 pick of the Washington Capitals that spent Tuesday night ripping the hearts out of the partisan Canadian crowd in Calgary: Evgeny Kuznetsov.
To see a breakdown of the top World Juniors prospects, you must be an ESPN Insider.
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Grant Sonier
Grant Sonier has scouted for six NHL organizations over the past 13 years, most recently for the Atlanta Thrashers during the 2010-11 season. He is a special contributor to ESPN Insider.
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Victoria Matiash
Victoria Matiash has served as a Fantasy Hockey columnist for ESPN.com since 2007, and contributor to NHL Rumor Central since 2010. She lives in Toronto.
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