By Andrew Chong /

Our country’s best teenagers will be showcasing their talents at the IIHF Under-20 World Junior Championship in Saskatchewan starting Boxing Day. With time and minor league seasoning, many of these players will be brought along to eventually make an impact at the NHL level—but for some, the transition from highly-touted teen to NHL impact player could be rapid.
A snapshot of the last three World Junior Championships provides a list of a dozen players who have already become significant NHL performers. Some have already been invited to Team Canada’s Olympic Orientation Camp, some have Stanley Cup rings, some have competed in the NHL All-Star Game—one is even an NHL captain. And all of these players are still on their three-year entry-level contracts.
Here’s a glimpse of some Team Canada World Junior talents who have made a swift transition to the big-time:

TEAM CANADA WORLD JUNIORS 2007
Kris Letang (PIT) and Darren Helm (DET) have both already been to the Stanley Cup finals twice and each has a Cup ring.
Sam Gagner (EDM) is in his third NHL season and just turned 20-years-old this summer—he already has over 100 NHL points.
Jonathan Toews (CHI) is an NHL captain and a strong candidate to make Team Canada’s Olympic team.
Marc Staal (NYR) was recently invited to Team Canada’s Olympic Orientation camp and plays on the Rangers’ top shutdown defensive pair.
Bryan Little (ATL) is coming off a 31-goal season—second only to Ilya Kovalchuk in Thrashers goal-scoring last season.
James Neal (DAL) is top 20 in NHL goal-scoring this season.
Carey Price (MTL) was voted in by the fans as the Eastern Conference starting goaltender for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal.

TEAM CANADA WORLD JUNIORS 2008
Steve Mason (CBJ) was named a Second-Team NHL All-Star and Vezina nominee before he was even of-age in the U.S.
Steven Stamkos (TB) trails only Dany Heatley and Jarome Iginla in Canadian goal-scoring.
Drew Doughty (LA) is top-five in defenceman scoring and has a good chance to crack Team Canada’s Olympic roster even though he is just 19-years-old.

TEAM CANADA WORLD JUNIORS 2009
John Tavares (NYI) leads all NHL rookies in goals and points and is top 20 in goal-scoring among Canadian players.
Eighteen-year-old Evander Kane (ATL) has more goals (7) than Malkin and Datsyuk and is sixth in the NHL in game-winning goals (3).
Defenceman Tyler Myers (BUF) is regularly playing over 21 minutes per game and played 26:03 last week in a game against the Ottawa Senators.

In today’s salary cap world, young players who overachieve on their cap-friendly entry-level contracts are invaluable to teams trying to get the most bang for their back. Young players are given more of a chance to succeed than maybe ever before.
This December, Team Canada’s 2010 team gets their opportunity to perform on the grand stage. Will players like Cody Hodgson, Brayden Schenn, Taylor Hall, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Seguin, and Jordan Eberle ride a strong showing at the World Juniors right into an impactful 2010/11 NHL rookie season?
History shows that we can expect at least a few significant success stories‚Äîbut who will be the next group of Canadian young stars to emerge?  We will soon find out.