Team Canada: World Juniors Roster Predictions/Snubs

Team Canada: An Early Look at the World Junior Championships (Roster Predictions/Snubs, Schedule, Tournament Info, and Notes)

Team Canada announced its preliminary World Juniors roster roughly a week ago. The list contained 32 names, which has unfortunately been cut down to 31 following the recent loss of Nolan Patrick.

Coming off a disappointing tournament around this time last year, the Canadians welcome back five players: Dylan Strome, Mathew Barzal, Thomas Chabot, Julien Gauthier, and Mitchell Stephens.

This year’s World Junior Championship will be held in Montreal and Toronto. Of the 10 countries participating: Finland, Russia, USA, Sweden, Czech Republic, Canada, Slovakia, Denmark, Switzerland, and Latvia.

Group A (Will Play at Bell Centre in Montreal)

Finland
Sweden
Czech Republic
Denmark
Sweden

Group B (Will Play at Air Canada Centre in Toronto)

Russia
USA
Canada
Slovakia
Latvia

Team Canada Schedule

Dec.26 – Canada vs. Russia (8pm et)
Dec.27 – Canada vs. Slovakia (8pm et)
Dec.29 – Canada vs. Latvia (8pm et)
Dec.31 – Canada vs. USA (3:30pm et)

The quarterfinals are set to be played on January 2nd following the first relegation game at 11am. The first QF is at 1pm in Toronto, the 2nd at 3:30pm in Montreal, 3rd at 5:30pm in Toronto, while the last will be played at 8pm in Montreal.

More from Puck Prose

Game two of the best-of-3 relegation series takes places as the lone contest on January 3rd in Montreal.

On Jan.4th, semifinals kick off at 3pm in Montreal and wrap-up later that night at 7:30 (all semi and final games will be played at the Bell Centre).

The final day of action will be on January 5th beginning with game three of the relegation series (if needed). Later on, the Bronze Medal game takes place at 3:30pm, with the Gold Medal match-up taking place later that evening at 8pm.

Team Canada Preliminary Roster

Below is the full 32-name list of camp invitees (courtesy of Sportsnet). As mentioned above, the loss of Nolan Patrick is a significant one. For those of you wondering if it will affect his draft status, the answer is no. He’s not the first guy to go through it; the Montreal Canadiens made out pretty well after Alex Galchenyuk missed most of his draft year.

There are six guys still eligible to play for this team currently in the NHL, but the only two have a chance of being loaned: Arizona‘s Lawson Crouse and NY Islanders‘ Anthony Beauvillier. Guys like McDavid, Marner, Konecny, and Chychrun aren’t going anywhere.

Forwards:

Mathew Barzal (Seattle – WHL), Anthony Cirelli (Oshawa – OHL), Dillon Dube (Kelowna – WHL), Pierre-Luc Dubois (Cape Breton – QMJHL), Julien Gauthier (Val-d’Or – QMJHL), Brett Howden (Moose Jaw – WHL), Mathieu Joseph (Saint John – QMJHL), Tyson Jost (U of North Dakota – NCAA), Michael McLeod (Mississauga – OHL), Nick Merkley (Kelowna – WHL), *Nolan Patrick (Brandon – WHL), Taylor Raddysh (Erie – OHL), Nicolas Roy (Chicoutimi – QMJHL), Zach Senyshyn (Sault Ste. Marie – OHL), Blake Speers (Sault Ste. Marie – OHL), Sam Steel (Regina – WHL), Mitchell Stephens (Saginaw – OHL), Dylan Strome (Erie – OHL), Austin Wagner (Regina – WHL)

*injured, will miss tournament

Defensemen:

LH Jake Bean (Calgary – WHL), LH Guillaume Brisebois (Charlottetown – QMJHL), LH Thomas Chabot (Saint John – QMJHL), LH Kale Clague (Brandon – WHL), RH Dante Fabbro (Boston U – NCAA), LH Samuel Girard (Shawinigan – QMJHL), RH Noah Juulsen (Everett – WHL), LH Jeremy Lauzon (Rouyn-Noranda – QMJHL), LH Victor Mete (London – OHL), LH Philippe Myers (Rouyn-Noranda – QMJHL)

Goalies:

Carter Hart (Everett – WHL), Connor Ingram (Kamloops – WHL), Michael McNiven (Owen Sound – OHL)

World Juniors Team Canada Roster Projection

Pierre-Luc Dubois (CLB) – Dylan Strome (ARZ) – Mitchell Stephens (TB)
Brett Howden (TB) – Mathew Barzal (NYI) – Julien Gauthier (CAR)
Austin Wagner (LA) – Tyson Jost (COL) – Taylor Raddysh (TB)
Sam Steel (ANA) – Anthony Cirelli (TB) – Michael McLeod (NJ)

Thomas Chabot (OTT) – Dante Fabbro (NSH)
Samuel Girard (NSH) – Noah Juulsen (MTL)
Jake Bean (CAR) – Philippe Myers (PHI)

Carter Hart (PHI) – Michael McNiven (MTL)

Top 3 Team Canada Roster Snubs

1. D Logan Stanley (Windsor – OHL)

Selected 18th overall at the 2016 Draft by Winnipeg, Stanley is a hulking defender at 6’7 230lbs. Canada could have used this big, physical, defensive-minded blueliner.

2. RW/C Jordan Kyrou (Sarnia – OHL)

Remember this name, because the St. Louis Blues snatched a gem at 35th overall in 2016 with this young man. An exception two-way playmaker, Kyrou currently ranks 12th in OHL scoring with 34 points in 26 games.

Next: NHL Power Rankings: Week 8

3. RW/C Maxime Fortier (Halifax – QMJHL)

Fortier was undrafted in 2016 after an impressive 31-goal, 77-point campaign with Halifax. So far in 2016-17, Fortier is the CHL’s highest point producer with 49 points through 29 games.

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