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Therein lies the beauty of the world juniors, which has become a must-watch event ever since TSN began marketing the annual holiday tournament as something we should care more about than the Olympics. Whether it’s Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine or Nigel Dawes and Stefan Legein, the tournament is often a coming-out party for the next generation of stars or a two-week spotlight for players you might never hear from again.

One of the players who has a chance at becoming a household name in the coming weeks — and a potential Calder Trophy candidate next year — is Michael McLeod.

Photo by Graig Abel / Getty Images

The Mississauga Steelheads forward, who a year ago was the 12th overall pick of the New Jersey Devils, is one of seven returning players (forwards Dillon Dube and Taylor Raddysh, defencemen Jake Bean, Kale Clague and Dante Fabbro, and as goalie Carter Hart are the others) who were invited to Canada’s selection camp that runs from Tuesday to Friday in St. Catharines, Ont.

Roadrunner fast and with a compete level that Steelheads GM James Richmond said is “off the charts,” the 19-year-old is looking to make a bigger splash than he did a year ago.

“Having experience is huge,” said McLeod, who scored two goals and had an assist for the team that lost in an overtime shootout to the Americans in last year’s tournament. “Our returning guys have to step up and kind of lead the way. We saw what (past returning players like Dylan Strome) did last year. Those guys took over, so I think the returning guys this year will try to do the same thing this year and lead the way. It’s exciting times.”