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World Juniors

Jack Hughes, Alexis Lafreniere Will Not Be Released For WJC

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5:00pm: As if in response, Hockey Canada has announced that Alexis Lafreniere will also not be released to the tournament. Lafreniere will instead focus on training and preparing for the upcoming season with the New York Rangers, where he is expected to step right into a prominent role. After narrowly escaping major injury at the tournament last year, but still earning MVP honors and taking home the gold medal, it seems reasonable for the Rangers to want to keep Lafreniere at home,

3:37pm: Though it doesn’t come as much of a surprise, Jack Hughes will not be released to USA Hockey for the upcoming World Junior Championship. Though the program had interest, Darren Dreger of TSN reports that New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has informed them the star forward will not go this year.

Hughes of course was the first-overall pick in 2019 by the Devils and missed the tournament last year as well thanks to his NHL commitments. Now 19, he is still eligible but doesn’t have a lot to gain from suiting up against the junior-aged players other than getting in some competitive action before the season begins. That’s what the Chicago Blackhawks are hoping for Kirby Dach for instance, who will go for Team Canada despite playing all last season in the NHL.

The Devils have high hopes for the upcoming season and a step forward from Hughes is imperative to any playoff run they may chase. It’s hard to call him anything but a disappointment in year one, with just seven goals and 21 points. That’s not what you hope for from a first-overall pick, but Hughes was always expected to take a little longer because of his slight frame. Off-ice training and practice with the Devils is likely more important to his development than dominating prospects at the World Juniors.

Team USA could potentially lose another talented youngster that has already made his NHL debut, as Dreger also notes that if the league starts up soon Nick Robertson would stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs instead of traveling to Edmonton. Robertson was listed on the preliminary roster and is currently training in Toronto with some Maple Leafs teammates.

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.

Antti Saarela Out 2-4 Weeks

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Chicago Blackhawks draft pick Antti Saarela was a likely candidate to represent Finland at the upcoming World Juniors, returning to the tournament after taking part last year. That has been thrown into question today as Brandon Cain of NHL.com reports that Saarela will be out two to four weeks with an undisclosed injury.

The 19-year-old forward was selected 123rd overall by the Blackhawks in 2019 but managed to secure a full-time spot on Ilves last season, scoring 12 points in 40 games. He returned to the Finnish club this year and had ten points in his first 17 games, looking more dangerous every time the puck touched his stick while maintaining his excellent skating abilities.

After going scoreless in seven games at the World Juniors last year, this year’s tournament would have been a chance for Saarela to exact some revenge and raise his international profile. Given that the tournament is almost exactly four weeks away he could potentially recover in time, but it obviously isn’t a guarantee.

Saarela isn’t yet under contract with the Blackhawks, but the team has until 2023 to sign him. If the big development step he has taken this year is any indication, a future in the NHL is waiting for him down the road.

Russia Announces WJC Selection Camp Roster

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Like the Canadians, who gathered to start their month-long selection camp earlier this week, the Russian U20 team will also begin preparations soon for the upcoming World Junior Championship. Today, the expanded selection camp roster was announced, though the coaching staff has only a handful of players to cut.

The full roster is as follows:

G Yaroslav Askarov (NSH)
G Artur Akhtyamov (TOR)
G Vsevolod Skotnikov (undrafted)

D Roman Bychkov (BOS)
D Alexander Kirpichnikov (undrafted)
D Kirill Kirsanov (2021 draft eligible)
D Yegor Shekhovtsov (undrafted)
D Yan Kuznetsov (CGY)
D Shakir Mukhamadullin (NJD)
D Ivan Rogov (undrafted)
D Nikita Sedov (undrafted)
D Daniil Chayka (2021 draft eligible)
D Semyon Chistyakov (NSH)

F Mikhail Abramov (TOR)
F Rodion Amirov (TOR)
F Danil Bashkirov (undrafted)
F Yegor Afanasyev (NSH)
F Takhir Mingachev (undrafted)
F Zakhar Bardakov (undrafted)
F Arseni Gritsyuk (NJD)
F Yegor Chinakhov (CBJ)
F Maxim Groshev (TBL)
F Vasily Podkolzin (VAN)
F Yegor Spiridonov (SJS)
F Marat Khusnutdinov (MIN)
F Vasily Ponomarev (CAR)
F Ilya Safonov (undrafted)
F Vladislav Firstov (MIN)

While NHL fans will be watching their favorite team’s prospects closely, attention should also be given to Chayka, who is expected to go in the first round of the 2021 draft. The 18-year-old defenseman already stands 6’3″ and was the seventh overall pick in the 2018 OHL Priority Selection. Chayka helped the Russian squad take home gold at the Hlinka-Gretzky and seems to win everywhere he goes.

The WJC will begin at the end of December in Edmonton, Alberta.

IIHF Releases 2021 World Junior Schedule

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While many international tournaments have already pulled the plug for next season or are expected to, one event that is still going on is the World Juniors at the top division.  (Lower levels aren’t playing and accordingly, there won’t be any promotions and relegations.)  The schedule was released today and can be found here.  It starts one day earlier than usual this time around with three games on the docket for December 25th.  Exhibition games will run from December 20th through the 23rd.

While the event was initially scheduled to take place in Edmonton and Red Deer, those plans have been changed.  Instead, the tournament will be held exclusively in Edmonton within the Edmonton Ice District which housed the NHL in its Return to Play.  The success of that was enough to give tournament organizers confidence that they could safely hold the event in the same environment, albeit without fans.

As a result of not being able to have spectators in attendance, the 2022 event will now be held in Red Deer and Edmonton with an expectation that fans will be able to attend by then.  Meanwhile, Sweden, who was initially expected to host in 2022, will now do so in 2024.

While the tournament taking place in Edmonton could affect the Oilers as they prepare for next season, there has been speculation that the year may not start until mid-January or later although the NHL is still officially targeting January 1st as its return date.  If it is the later of the two, they would have their arena back in time for the season to get underway although their training camp would likely have to take place at a different site.

The other thing to keep an eye on from an NHL scheduling standpoint is if the start is once again pushed back, junior-aged NHL players could, in theory, be made available to participate in this tournament.  While there would be a risk of injury, that same risk exists for anyone that’s assigned on loan to play overseas while awaiting the start of camp and the World Juniors would certainly provide a high level of competition, especially if teams are augmented with players that otherwise wouldn’t be available.  That certainly adds a layer of intrigue although we’re still a couple of months away from that decision being made.

USA Hockey Invites 39 Players To World Junior Evaluation Camp

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The NHL season is over and it’s not clear when professional hockey will return. In the meantime, fans can look forward to the World Junior Championship, scheduled to begin December 25 in Edmonton, Alberta. The tournament will be held in a bubble similar to the one used in the NHL playoffs and extends through January 5.

Today, USA Hockey announced the 39 players that have been invited to the evaluation camp that will help determine the roster for the event. The list of invitees is as follows:

G Drew Commesso (2020 draft eligible)
G Spencer Knight (FLA)
G Logan Stein (2020 draft eligible)
G Dustin Wolf (CGY)

D Brock Faber (2020 draft eligible)
D Domenick Fensore (CAR)
D Drew Helleson (COL)
D Ryan Johnson (BUF)
D Jackson LaCombe (ANA)
D Case McCarthy (NJD)
D Mitchell Miller (2020 draft eligible)
D Jake Sanderson (2020 draft eligible)
D Hunter Skinner (NYR)
D Jayden Struble (MTL)
D Henry Thrun (ANA)
D Alex Vlasic (CHI)
D Marshall Warren (MIN)
D Cam York (PHI)

F John Beecher (BOS)
F Matthew Beniers (2021 draft eligible)
F Brett Berard (2020 draft eligible)
F Matthew Boldy (MIN)
F Thomas Bordeleau (2020 draft eligible)
F Bobby Brink (PHI)
F Brendan Brisson (2020 draft eligible)
F Cole Caufield (MTL)
F Sam Colangelo (2020 draft eligible)
F John Farinacci (ARI)
F Sean Farrell (2020 draft eligible)
F Michael Gildon (2020 draft eligible)
F Owen Lindmark (FLA)
F Robert Mastrosimone (DET)
F Patrick Moynihan (NJD)
F Josh Nodler (CGY)
F Dylan Peterson (2020 draft eligible)
F Landon Slaggert (2020 draft eligible)
F Sam Stange (2020 draft eligible)
F Lukas Svejkovsky (2020 draft eligible)
F Luke Tuch (2020 draft eligible)

It is important to note that there will be many more players eligible for the tournament that could make the final roster depending on the status of the 2020-21 NHL season. This evaluation camp will be held on October 8-13 and includes only a handful of returning players from the last tournament.

Klim Kostin Assigned To Avangard Omsk

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The St. Louis Blues have found a landing spot for Klim Kostin as he waits for the next NHL season to get underway. The young forward will return to the KHL for the time being, joining Avangard Omsk on a short-term assignment. Kostin will be able to return to North America for training camp with St. Louis, whenever that takes place.

Kostin, 21, was the 31st selection in the 2017 NHL draft, a pick the Blues received (along with Oskar Sundqvist) when they traded Ryan Reaves to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Immediately the powerful winger showed why the team had invested in him, scoring six goals and 28 points in the AHL as a teenager while also dominating the competition at the World Juniors with Russia. Kostin returned to the AHL in 2018-19 and put up ten goals and 24 points while recording more than 100 penalty minutes, but it was a bit of a disappointment given his early hype.

This year though, things were different. The 6’3″ winger ended up scoring 13 goals and 30 points in just 48 games with the San Antonio Rampage, while also making his NHL debut and scoring for the Blues. While there is still plenty of work to be done, the progress Kostin has made since being drafted is encouraging.

With two years remaining on his entry-level contract, the 2020-21 season is an important one for Kostin if he wants to establish himself as an NHL player before reaching restricted free agency. Getting some playing time in the KHL, where he actually debuted in 2017 before even being drafted, will only help him continue his development and come to North America ready to compete for a roster spot with the Blues.

Otto Somppi, Oskari Laaksonen Loaned To Lahti

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Two more young players will spend the next several months playing overseas, as Otto Somppi of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Oskari Laaksonen of the Buffalo Sabres have been loaned to the Lahti Pelicans in Finland. Both players can be recalled when NHL training camps open.

Somppi, 22, is another one of Tampa Bay’s late-round draft picks that the organization has committed to developing. The 206th overall pick in 2016, Somppi has now been in their minor league system for two seasons, scoring 18 points in 45 games for the Syracuse Crunch this year. A 6’2″ center that exploded with 83 points in his final year of junior for the Halifax Mooseheads, he’ll be a restricted free agent after the 2020-21 season when his entry-level deal expires.

Laaksonen meanwhile has no experience on North American ice, having played the last three seasons with Ilves in Finland after his 2017 selection by Buffalo. The 21-year-old defenseman was a third-round pick and competed for Finland at the 2019 World Juniors, winning a gold medal alongside other talented defenders like Henri Jokiharju, Urho Vaakanainen and Ville Heinola.

Unlike Somppi, Laaksonen still has plenty of time under contract with the Sabres after only inking his entry-level deal a few months ago. It would be a lot less surprising to see him spend the entire 2020-21 season overseas, though at some point the Buffalo organization would likely want to see him compete in the AHL. That was likely the plan for this season, though Laaksonen was actually signed to his entry-level deal just a day before the team fired GM Jason Botterill.

IIHF Announces 2021 World Juniors To Be Held In Bubble

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The IIHF has announced that the 2021 World Junior Championship, originally scheduled to be held in Red Deer and Edmonton, Alberta, will now be a single-venue tournament held in just Edmonton. It will use the “bubble” protocols that the NHL has pioneered for their 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and will be held without spectators. The tournament schedule will be revised and released at a later date.

Because of the changes to this year’s tournament, the IIHF has also made a swap down the line. The 2022 event will no longer be held in Gothenburg, Sweden, but is now scheduled for the original hosts of Red Deer and Edmonton with spectators. Sweden will now host the 2024 tournament instead.

The governing body has also canceled the lower division 2021 tournaments, meaning there will be no promotion or relegation this year. The relegation round for the World Juniors will no longer take place.

Dan Muse, Adam Nightingale Named NTDP Head Coaches

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Over the last few weeks USA Hockey had lost several coaches from their National Team Development Program to other positions in the hockey world, but today they’ve found some replacements. Dan Muse and Adam Nightingale have been named head coaches of the NTDP, heading up the U18 and U17 teams respectively.

Muse has served as an assistant coach for the Nashville Predators for the past three seasons after previously working as the head coach of the Chicago Steel of the USHL. Twice he was a video coach with USA Hockey at the U20 World Juniors and has plenty of experience as an assistant with Yale in the NCAA as well.

He’ll be joined by assistants Dan Hinote and Mike Leone behind the bench of the U18 team.

Nightingale meanwhile has worked with the Detroit Red Wings for the last several seasons, first as a video coach and then an assistant in 2019-20. He’s served as video coach for USA Hockey’s World Championship squad the last three years and was previously the Director of Hockey Operations at Michigan State University.

He’ll be joined by assistants Nick Fohr and Brent Darnell behind the bench of the U17 team.

Seth Appert and John Wroblewski, who previously held the positions, both took head coaching jobs in the AHL this summer.

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