Team Russia is taking a bit of a different approach to their cuts for the World Juniors. Their federation announced five cuts but they still have two more to make to get down to the maximum 23-man roster. Heading home are the following players:
F Ivan Chekhovich (SJ, injured)
F Artem Nikolaev (undrafted, injured)
D Danill Valitov (undrafted)
D Artem Volkov (undrafted)
F Alexander Yaremchuk (undrafted)
That means their roster currently stands as follows:
Goaltenders
Pyotr Kochetkov (undrafted)
Amir Miftakhov (undrafted)
Daniil Tarasov (CBJ)
Defensemen
Alexander Alexeyev (WSH)
Yevgeni Kalabushkin (undrafted)
Ilya Morozov (undrafted)
Saveli Olshansky (undrafted)
Alexander Romanov (MTL)
Mark Rubinchik (undrafted)
Dmitri Samorukov (EDM)
Danila Zhuravlyov (COL)
Forwards
Grigori Denisenko (FLA)
Artyom Galimov (undrafted)
Alexander Khovanov (MIN)
Klim Kostin (STL)
Nikolai Kovalenko (COL)
Vitali Kravtsov (NYR)
Kirill Marchenko (CBJ)
Ivan Morozov (VGK)
Ivan Muranov (undrafted)
Vasily Podkolzin (draft eligible in 2019)
Nikita Shashkov (undrafted)
Pavel Shen (BOS)
Kirill Slepets (undrafted)
Stepan Starkov (undrafted)
Instead of registering their full roster later today, it appears that the Russians will register a smaller group of players and decide on their final two cuts as the tournament progresses. They’re only required to submit 15 skaters and two goaltenders at this time but it’s likely they’ll have a few more skaters than that on their initial roster. While the tournament starts tomorrow, Russia’s first game isn’t until Thursday when they take on Denmark.