Well I am Lithuanian so I probably have a lot more interest in this level than most people do
I'm not saying Lithuanians are very good. In fact, they are not great, as expected. But at the same time, Italy really doesn't have anything going for it this year other than kind of decent defense. We, on the other hand, have Kaleinikovas who is legitimate star at this level and Bogdziul who is still an NAHL player, albeit struggling. Also our forward depth is excellent in general, we have beaten Slovenia in friendly game as well. All those are positives. So basically I expect star power to get us a win against unspectacular Italy.
Edit: One more thing to note, Italy has only 5 19 year-olds on their roster. Just once again proving '98 generation really isn't the best one for Italian hockey.
Ukraine has a lot of good players and a lot of them play together for either Donabass or Kremenchyuk against men. They also have Merezhko, Deniskin - again, guys, who are clearly above this level. Also I've seen most of them play in friendly tournament in Klaipeda a month ago and this is team is above Italy and Lithuania. Unless they screw up.
Kazakhs have the guy who is yet to miss a game for a strong mid-table team in the KHL. Saying they don't have anyone who stands out is like damn dude.. Don't make yourself look bad like that. Their defense is excellent in general and they have pretty nice forward top-6 as well made of MHL scorers. France, meanwhile, other than Texier, have 2-3 guys who could play at the MHL level. Almost all the guys who lead Kazakhstan last year are returning meanwhile France are without Maia, Ville, Gallet this year.. Texier hype train kinda takes attention away from it but those are elite talents by France's standards.
