With a busy Thanksgiving weekend in the rearview mirror, the calendar has flipped to December.

As it seemingly does every year, the World Juniors is sneaking up on us a little bit. The 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship is just over a month away and sooner yet the preliminary rosters for national team camps will be announced.

With Thanksgiving just days away, it’s shaping up to be a busy week ahead for millions around the country. The same could be said for those in the USHL.

Growing up in Mississauga, Ontario, Nick Moldenhauer was a huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan, naturally. In July, Moldenhauer realized a dream that would make him the envy of the entire Greater Toronto Area when the Leafs selected him in the third round of the NHL Draft last July.

The last few years of NCAA men's hockey recruiting have seemingly been dominated by Michigan and Minnesota, but there could be a slight balance of power shift for the 2023-24 incoming class. For the first time in a while, Boston College looks to have the best incoming class on paper for next season based on the players that signed their national letters of intent earlier this week.

A dozen teams will get very familiar with their opponent as this weekend’s slate features six back-to-backs. Fifteen of the 16 USHL teams will be in action and as we’ve hit the quarter mark of the season, teams are looking to separate themselves. Let's take a look at some of the top series to watch this weekend.

The World Junior A Challenge is a winter showcase event hosted by Hockey Canada, featuring two Canadian regional teams representing the East and West, a U.S. team and teams from Sweden and Latvia. The U.S. roster is often made up primarily of USHL players and this year will be no different.

Madison Capitols forward Miko Matikka grew up in Finland idolizing Russian superstars Ilya Kovalchuk and Alex Ovechkin. Perhaps it’s fitting that the 6-foot-3, right-shot winger plays a similar style and wears the No. 8 on his back.

The U.S. National Under-17 Team claimed its sixth title at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge with a rousing 11-3 victory over Canada Red in the championship game. The Hockey Canada-hosted event featured three Canadian teams, plus the U.S., Finland, Sweden and Czechia. The Americans ran the table going a perfect 7-0-0-0.

PLYMOUTH, Mich. – A lot of high-level NHL personnel including several general managers from across the league descended upon USA Hockey Arena over the past week to get a look at NHL Draft-eligible players from the countries competing in the 2022 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament.

The rust has been shaken off and the season is in full swing, which raises the level of play for players across the hockey landscape. As the season progresses, I'll be checking in on prospects across the world to share some observations and analysis on players at the various levels of hockey beneath the NHL.

It’s an action-packed weekend in the USHL as 16 games will be crammed into three days. Friday and Saturday’s slates both feature seven games, while a pair of games will close out the action on Sunday.

The 2023 NHL Draft is shaping up to be a very good one. The talent at the very top is special, while a good chunk of the first round looks like it will be comprised of difference-making prospects. It’s still too early yet to make a total determination on the quality of the class as a whole, but early indications suggest teams with first round picks are going to get exceptional value.

All 16 teams have at least eight games under their belt and from Wednesday to Sunday, 15 more games are on the USHL schedule. Although there’s still a long, long way to go in the 62-game regular-season, the calendar has already flipped to November.

The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge has long been an event that showcases future NHL stars a season or two before the NHL Draft spotlight gets turned on them. Over the years, some of the best and brightest of the NHL have played in this tournament and it’s offered a glimpse of some of the future stars we'll be seeing go atop the drafts a little further out.