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Preliminary Swedish, Czech WJC Rosters Released

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The World Junior Championship will be held in just a few weeks and countries from all over are starting to announce their selection camp rosters. Today, Sweden and the Czech Republic both released large contingents that will have to be cut down to 25 by the time they journey to Edmonton, Alberta for the tournament.

Team Sweden:

G Hugo Alnefelt (TBL)
G Calle Clang (PIT)
G Hannes Kollen (2021 draft eligible)
G Jesper Wallstedt (2021 draft eligible)

D Emil Andrae (PHI)
D Gustav Berglund (DET)
D Tobias Bjornfot (LAK)
D Alex Brannstam (2021 draft eligible)
D Philip Broberg (EDM)
D Simon Edvinsson (2021 draft eligible)
D Helge Grans (LAK)
D Ludvig Hedstrom (2021 draft eligible)
D Albert Johansson (DET)
D Viktor Persson (VAN)
D Victor Soderstrom (ARI)
D William Wallinder (DET)

F Isac Andersson (2021 draft eligible)
F Arvid Costmar (VAN)
F William Eklund (2021 draft eligible)
F Albin Grewe (DET)
F Noel Gunler (CAR)
F Emil Heineman (FLA)
F Karl Henriksson (NYR)
F Simon Holmstrom (NYI)
F Alexander Holtz (NJD)
F Daniel Ljungman (DAL)
F Theodor Niederbach (DET)
F Zion Nybeck (CAR)
F Oskar Olausson (2021 draft eligible)
F Lucas Raymond (DET)
F Simon Robertsson (2021 draft eligible)
F Elmer Soderblom (DET)
F Albin Sundsvik (ANA)
F Jonathan Wikstrom (2021 draft eligible)

Team Czech:

G Lukas Parik (LAK)
G Jan Bednar (DET)
G Nick Malik (2021 draft eligible)
G Tomas Suchanek (2021 draft eligible)
G Simon Zajicek (undrafted)

D Karel Klikorka (undrafted)
D Martin Hugo Has (WSH)
D Michal Hradek (undrafted)
D Stanislav Svozil (2021 draft eligible)
D Adam Rutar (undrafted)
D David Jiricek (2022 draft eligible)
D Vladimir Kremlacek (2021 draft eligible)
D Ondrej Balaz (2021 draft eligible)
D Michael Krutil (CHI)
D Simon Kubicek (undrafted)
D Jan Mlcak (undrafted)
D Daniel Poizl (undrafted)
D Radek Kucerik (undrafted)
D Jiri Suhrada (undrafted)

F Adam Najman (undrafted)
F Jakub Rychlovsky (undrafted)
F Michal Gut (undrafted)
F Martin Beranek (undrafted)
F Jonas Peterek (undrafted)
F Adam Raska (SJS)
F Jakub Brabenec (2021 draft eligible)
F Sebastian Malat (undrafted)
F David Vitouch (undrafted)
F David Jindra (undrafted)
F Filip Koffer (undrafted)
F Martin Lang (undrafted)
F Pavel Novak (MIN)
F Filip Prikryl (undrafted)
F Jaromir Pytlik (NJD)
F Michal Teply (CHI)
F Matej Toman (undrafted)
F Jan Mysak (MTL)
F Ivan Ivan (undrafted)
F Martin Rysavy (2021 draft eligible)
F Radek Muzik (undrafted)
F Theodor Pistek (undrafted)
F Ondrej Psenicka (undrafted)

Marco Rossi To Attend World Juniors

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If you needed another reason to tune in for the World Junior Championship later this month, you’ve got it. Marco Rossi, the Minnesota Wild forward who led the OHL in scoring last season, will soon be assigned to Team Austria for their training camp that begins this weekend according to Michael Russo of The Athletic. The Wild believe it is a “great opportunity” for Rossi to lead the Austrians, where he will likely be the team’s best player in the tournament.

Rossi, 19, is currently on loan to the ZSC Lions in Switzerland and has played one game for the pro club. The undersized center was one of the best players in the entire CHL last season, scoring 120 points in 56 games for the Ottawa 67’s and winning the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL Most Outstanding Player. Considered one of the most NHL-ready prospects in the draft, he was selected ninth overall by the Wild and was hoping to jump right into the league.

As with everything else right now, that is entirely up in the air. The NHL doesn’t have a firm start date or even a training camp schedule, leading to the decision by the Wild to send him to the World Juniors. Rossi’s agent, Serge Payer, told Russo that he will report to Minnesota after the tournament in Edmonton.

The development of Rossi is paramount in Minnesota. The team has been searching for a new franchise center for years, and though GM Bill Guerin has acquired names like Nick Bonino, Marcus Johansson, and Nick Bjugstad this summer, all of whom have experience down the middle, it’s Rossi that still carries the hope of an entire fanbase. If he is able to fulfill his potential and find any sort of chemistry with Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild could have a duo to build around for years to come.

Even though the Wild haven’t often been considered real Stanley Cup contenders, they still have been mired in the middle of the pack and haven’t received prospects like Rossi very often. In fact, he’s the highest draft pick they’ve had since Matt Dumba went seventh overall in 2012.

Finnish Leagues Pause Season

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The Finnish Liiga has postponed all games from tomorrow through December 19 according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 situation in the country. Yesterday, Mestis, Finland’s AHL equivalent, was also suspended indefinitely with the hope that it could resume in January. Many NHL prospects will now be on the sidelines waiting for games to come back, though some may decide this is a good time to return to North America to prepare for the upcoming training camp.

For players like Arttu Ruotsalainen though, this stoppage comes at the worst time. The Buffalo Sabres prospect was dominating the competition in Finland, leading the league with 27 points in 19 games. His play had reached a new level that could have given him a real leg up on the competition at camp, should he have returned to Buffalo to seek an NHL job.

Others, like 18-year-old Aatu Raty, a top prospect for the 2021 draft, will have to find other ways to continue their development. The young forward will likely be part of Finland’s World Junior team after taking part in the tournament a year ago, but he had been getting his feet wet for Karpat at the highest level and holding his own.

As Thomas Drance of The Athletic wrote today, it seems as though instead of an offseason the NHL is in a second “pause” with so much uncertainty in the hockey world. The QMJHL has put their season on pause, Hockey Canada’s selection camp was shut down for two weeks and now prospects overseas are also on the sideline. Without NHL or AHL action to consume, the hockey world seems to be coming to a standstill once again.

Snapshots: Liiga, Paajarvi, Bradley

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Just days after the QMJHL announced a month-long pause due to the heightened spread of the Coronavirus, another league is set to make a similar call, but this time it’s a pro league out of Europe. According to a number of sources including The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf, the Finnish Liiga is expected to halt all play through the month of December. This move is expected to carry over to Finland’s junior leagues as well. A number of NHL prospects will be impacted, as will NHL players currently on loan who will return to North America sooner than expected. It does seem as though the shut down will end in January, but the COVID numbers in Finland will ultimately determine when play resumes.

  • Veteran NHL forward Magnus Paajarvi opted to take his talents to Russia last summer, signing a two-year deal with the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. His first season fell short of expectations, as Paajarvi played in only 39 games and recorded just 19 points. His second season has started off much better, as Paajarvi already has 11 ponts through 26 games and will far exceed last season if he stays healthy. Yaroslavl decided to take advantage of the success of the impending free agent, as they have traded Paajarvi to Dynamo Moscow in exchange for another name familiar to NHL fans, Teemu Pulkkinen. Given that Paajarvi was still a serviceable bottom-six forward when he left the NHL, is on pace for a superior season this year with his contract expiring, and has now abandoned any loyalty he might have felt to the KHL club he initially signed with, this could all be leading to an NHL comeback for the skilled power forward next year.
  • Detroit Red Wings prospect Chase Bradley has made his collegiate selection. The 2020 seventh-round pick out of the USHL has committed to the University of Connecticut, the program announced. The St. Louis native is a hard-working forward who is expecting to take a big step forward offensively in his final junior season before moving to the NCAA. Bradley becomes the second NHL prospect commitment for the Huskies this month, as fellow 2020 seventh-rounder Ryan Tverberg (TOR) will also join UConn next season.

Prospect Notes: 2021 Draft, Team Canada, Merkley

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The focus for hockey fans right now is on the upcoming NHL season, but for many 2021 draft-eligible prospects, the concern is just trying to get on the ice at all. The OHL and WHL haven’t started yet, while the QMJHL is about to shut down for a month due to increasing coronavirus numbers. Several NCAA schools have shut down their hockey programs for the year, while overseas leagues are routinely dealing with outbreaks of their own. It makes determining a draft ranking exceptionally difficult, but Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (subscription required) tried anyway, putting together his top-64 today.

At the very top without much surprise is Owen Power, the University of Michigan freshman that has dominated at every level of minor hockey. Power has the size—he stands 6’5″ and is well over 200 lbs—and skating ability to be a difference-maker in the NHL, potentially at a very young age. That said, he doesn’t project to have quite the same offensive upside as someone like Rasmus Dahlin, which means he isn’t a sure thing for the first-overall selection just yet. The 18-year-old defenseman was in the middle of some controversy last month when his college team wouldn’t release him for Team Canada’s World Junior selection camp, meaning he (likely) won’t get a chance to show what he can do on the world stage. Still, playing (and dominating) at Michigan should be more than enough for scouts to form a strong opinion on the young defender and decide whether he’s worth that top spot.

  • Wheeler’s colleague Corey Pronman does his best to project what Canada’s roster will be like when the coaching staff cuts it down from 49 to 25 for the tournament later this month. Among his “locks” to make the team are Bowen Byram and Jamie Drysdale, who will return on defense and are a big reason why the loss of Power won’t really matter to the Canadians. Byram, the fourth-overall pick in 2019, and Drysdale, the sixth in 2020, could make up one of the most dynamic and skilled pairings in World Junior history should they play together for Canada. Both players can score at an elite level and skate among the best in the world, which should put them in the NHL before long.
  • One young forward that never managed to make Team Canada at the WJC is now trying to lock down a role in the NHL, as Nick Merkley’s loan with Assat in Finland comes to an end. The 23-year-old was a first-round pick in 2015 but has just two NHL games under his belt so far and is now with his second organization. In his 19-game stint overseas the New Jersey Devils forward scored 13 points, all of them after going scoreless in his first four. Merkley signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Devils in October, accepting his qualifying offer amount to try and prove he can hack it at the NHL level.

USA Hockey Announces Preliminary 2021 World Junior Roster

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The upcoming World Junior Championship is an event that always brings plenty of excitement, but this year while hockey fans are waiting for news of the NHL season it should be even more spectacular. Sure, there will not be anyone in the stands to watch the games, but the tournament—held in Edmonton, Alberta from December 25 – January 5—is going to be packed with more talent than ever.

Today, USA Hockey released their preliminary roster for the event. This group includes 29 players that will head to a training camp on December 6 in Plymouth, Michigan. It will be cut down to 25 and the final roster will be announced on December 13.

G Drew Commesso (CHI)
G Spencer Knight (FLA)
G Dustin Wolf (CGY)

D Brock Faber (LAK)
D Drew Helleson (COL)
D Ryan Johnson (BUF)
D Jackson LaCombe (ANA)
D Cam McDonald (2021 draft eligible)
D Jake Sanderson (OTT)
D Henry Thrun (ANA)
D Alex Vlasic (CHI)
D Cam York (PHI)

F John Beecher (BOS)
F Matthew Beniers (2021 draft eligible)
F Brett Berard (NYR)
F Matthew Boldy (MIN)
F Thomas Bordeleau (SJS)
F Bobby Brink (PHI)
F Brendan Brisson (VGK)
F Cole Caufield (MTL)
F Sam Colangelo (ANA)
F John Farinacci (ARI)
F Arthur Kaliyev (LAK)
F Robert Mastrosimone (DET)
F Patrick Moynihan (NJD)
F Nick Robertson (TOR)
F Landon Slaggert (CHI)
F Alex Turcotte (LAK)
F Trevor Zegras (ANA)

The roster does not include New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes, who is still technically eligible for the event despite having played in a full NHL season. Among the other notable omissions is former Arizona Coyotes draft pick Mitchell Miller, who had been one of the 39 players invited to their September evaluation camp.

Minor Transactions: 11/28/20

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While the transaction lists for North American leagues remain relatively empty given unknown and delayed start dates, hockey is alive and well in Europe and those leagues and teams continue to collect loans and signings from North America. Keep up with all of the minor moves, overseas and otherwise, right here:

  • Despite his status as a second-round pick, goaltender Olof Lindbom has still not seen any action in the SHL, Sweden’s top league, since he was drafted by the New York Rangers in 2018. That could change soon, as the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks have announced that they have acquired Lindbom on loan from the Allsvenskan’s Mora IK. This is not Lindbom’s first promotion, but he has only ever sat as a backup in previous opportunities. However, this loan was prompted by an injury to Malmo starter Oscar Alsenfelt, leaving former Boston Bruins prospect Lars Volden, who has struggled of late, as the only other keeper on the roster. Lindom’s odds of finally making his first SHL appearance seem high. He needs to get used to facing top competition if he hopes to ever compete for a roster spot in New York given their deep stable of talented, young goaltenders.
  • After four seasons with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, the first three spent on an entry-level contract, Eric Cornel will not return to the team this season. The Buffalo Sabres’ 2014 second-round pick has signed a one-year deal with the DEL’s Nurnberg Ice Tigers, the club announced. Cornel was a productive two-way forward for Rochester, even if he didn’t live up to his draft billing. He has a chance to take on even more responsibility and improve his scoring numbers in Germany. Cornel will join a Nurnberg team that rosters a number of former NHL players and prospects.
  • Joe Whitney has also made the move to Germany, signing a one-year deal with the Iserlohn Roosters per a team announcement. Whitney is a veteran of 450 AHL games as well as a cup of coffee in the NHL, but has not played in North America since 2017-18. The veteran forward is coming off back-to-back strong seasons in Sweden with the SHL’s Linkoping HC, but has seemingly opted to try his hand somewhere new.
  • A fellow journeyman with considerable AHL experience and a brief showing in the NHL, Morgan Ellis finds himself looking for a new job after being released by the KHL’s Dinamo Riga. Ellis has made stops in the DEL, SHL, and KHL over the past three years and expected to remain in the KHL this season, but was terminated by mutual agreement, according to the team. The former Montreal Canadiens prospect defenseman will have to look elsewhere, in Europe or perhaps back in North America, for a place to play this season.

Jean-Luc Foudy To Play In Sweden

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For many junior prospects, it has now been the better part of a year since they played any competitive hockey. That’s unacceptable for many trying to continue their development, so seeking out opportunities overseas is priority number one. For Jean-Luc Foudy, it has resulted in a loan to Morrums GolS IK in Sweden’s third-tier Hockeyettan.

Foudy, 18, was just selected 75th overall by the Colorado Avalanche last month, but currently doesn’t have a place to play. He is a member of the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL, who haven’t yet started their season (or released a concrete schedule) and was not invited to Canada’s World Junior selection camp. For now, he’s going to suit up in Sweden, playing there until the OHL starts back up. If it doesn’t, his agreement lasts for the entire Hockeyettan season.

It’s important for prospects to get playing time, especially ones like Foudy who have a standout skill but lack polish in other areas. Foudy, brother of Columbus Blue Jackets Liam Foudy, is an incredibly fast skater, perhaps the quickest in the entire 2020 draft class. Unfortunately, he lacks some of the other skills that made his brother a first-round pick and notably has just 23 goals in 126 OHL games.

It’s important to remember that even once a player is drafted, he isn’t actually signed to a professional contract and thus not guaranteed a pro career. Foudy has not yet signed his entry-level deal with the Avalanche, and though in his specific case that is still a likelihood, some prospects that miss out on development time will never even get an offer. There are not endless jobs for young players out there, nor will all of them wish to travel overseas when they are still just teenagers. But with junior leagues still so uncertain—the QMJHL, which is playing, has been a complicated mess of scheduling and travel thanks to COVID-19 outbreaks—the bold ones will seek out opportunity elsewhere.

Detroit’s Jack Adams Transfers To Providence College

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After three seasons at Union College, Detroit Red Wings prospect Jack Adams is on the move. Adams missed the entire 2019-20 season due to a torn ACL and MCL suffered in Detroit development camp, and has been seeking a fresh start this off-season. He has finally announced that he will join Providence College this season with two years of NCAA eligibility remaining.

Adams, 23, is a hulking power forward who was selected in the sixth round by the Red Wings in 2017. The 6’6″ right wing recorded 35 points in 66 games with Union through his first two seasons and now takes his two-way talents to PC. It’s a program that Jack is familiar with, as older brother Mark Adams spent five years in Providence, including winning an NCAA Championship in 2015.

The current iteration of the Friars may not be a title favorite, but is still home to eight NHL draft picks, now including Adams. Up front, Adams will join fellow Eastern Conference prospects Brett Berard (NYR), Patrick Moynihan (NJD), Tyce Thompson (NJD), and Chase Yoder (PIT), a group that could grow more dangerous if they all stay through next season.

Vancouver Canucks Loan Petrus Palmu To Germany

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Unlike many players who have bee shipped overseas in recent months while the NHL waits for their season to begin, Petrus Palmu is no stranger to loans. The Vancouver Canucks prospects has spent parts of each of his three pro seasons on loan in his native Finland. As such, it should come as no surprise that he has again been loaned away. Instead, the surprise is that rather than return to the Liiga, Palmu has been loaned to ERC Ingolstadt of Germany’s DEL.

Ingolstadt announced on Monday that they were pleased to have negotiated a loan with the Canucks to land Palmu. As opposed to many recent loan announcements, the team’s release also did not mention any shortened timeline or return for NHL training camp. Instead, it seems possible that this could be a season-long loan for the young forward.

Palmu, 23, is a skilled and speedy forward, as evidenced by a near 100-point season in the OHL and solid production in the Liiga. However, his size continues to be a concern when it comes to his NHL prospects. At 5’6″ and 170 lbs., Palmu is undersized to be competing against elite competition and to this point the Canucks seem hesitant to even place him in the AHL, beyond just a dozen games two years ago. Perhaps another strong season in Europe, this time in a new league, will convince them to give him a shot .

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