This kid is going to be a star. It’s just a matter of when. (Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen) This kid is going to be a star. It’s just a matter of when. (Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Following a four-goal in five-game performance at the World Junior Championship as captain of Team Sweden, Erik Brannstrom was named by the media to the tournament All Star team.

Along with Canadiens draft pick Alexander Romanov, Brannstrom now finds himself on a pretty darn impressive list. Here are the players who have been named to the same All Star team while they played in the World Junior Championship.

2005 Dion Phaneuf * Ryan Suter * 2006 Luc Bourdon Jack Johnson 2007 Kris Letang *! Erik Johnson 2008 Drew Doughty *^! Victor Hedman *^ 2009 Erik Karlsson *^ P. K. Subban *^ 2010 Alex Pietrangelo * John Carlson ! 2011 Ryan Ellis Dmitry Orlov ! 2012 Brandon Gormley Oscar Klefbom 2013 Jacob Trouba Jake McCabe 2014 Rasmus Ristolainen Nikita Zadorov 2015 Gustav Forsling Josh Morrissey 2016 Olli Juolevi Zach Werenski 2017 Thomas Chabot Charlie McAvoy 2018 Rasmus Dahlin Cale Makar 2019 Erik Brannstrom Alexander Romanov

*NHL All Star ^Norris Trophy !Stanley Cup Winner

Look at the names on that list! Doughty, Karlsson, Subban, Carlson, Hedman, Letang, Pietrangelo, Trouba, and it goes on and on. Even names from recent years like Thomas Chabot, Charlie McEvoy, and Rasmus Dahlin have already had major impacts at the NHL level.

Since 2005, 28 players have been named as World Junior All Stars, not including Brannstrom and Romanov. Only two have yet to appear in an NHL game (Makar, 19, and Juolevi, 20), an astounding eight have been named NHL All Stars, four have won Norris Trophies, and four have won Stanley Cups.

The first time the World Junior All Star team was announced was 1977 when Hall of Famer Viacheslav Fetisov was named as one of the two defensemen. Since, two more Hall of Famers (Brian Leetch and Scott Niedermayer) were named and it’s not crazy to think another two or three will find their way into the Hall.

Simply put, being named as a defenseman to the World Junior All Star team is a big deal and an incredible indicator of what type of player that prospect is set to become.

To make this accomplishment even more impressive, Brannstrom became the first defenseman since 1998 to be named to the team and not make it to the medal rounds. In other words, Brannstrom impressed the media in just four games while every other player named over the past 20 years has played six.

Now, it’s back to the AHL for Brannstrom, but when he eventually gets to the NHL, this honor puts him in pretty good company to be a damn good player.