The World Junior Summer Showcase happened this past weekend, with teams from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States taking part. This was a simple round robin tournament with each team playing each other once. These were just exhibition games so there were no playoffs or final. These showcases give countries a chance to get an early look at players they expect to be in the mix for their World Junior team come December. The Blue Jackets had three prospects taking part, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Keegan Kolesar for Canada and Gabriel Carlsson for Sweden.
Dubois played in only one game for Canada as his spot on the team is all but assured and the Hockey Canada staff wanted to get a look at some of the bubble players. Dubois laced them up against Finland and was fine. He didn’t standout or anything but held his own. Dubois should be one of the best players for Canada so it’s slightly concerning he didn’t standout. We have to keep in mind though it’s August. Dubois played in all situations for Canada displaying his strong skating. He lined up as a winger in the game, but I think come December he will be the top centre for the team.
Keegan Kolesar is one of those bubble players mentioned above. He played in all three games and had a strong 56% Corsi. He has some abilities that you like but he still has a long way to go. He’s a big body and likes to play the physical game. He played well in the defensive zone, even playing on the penalty kill. He has a hard shot, but struggled to get to good scoring areas on the ice. Part of this stems from his lack of skating and his somewhat limited hockey IQ. In these three games he was the passenger on his line letting others (notably Anthony Cirelli) do the heavy lifting. In the three games Kolesar only had three controlled entries and three dump-ins.
Gabriel Carlsson played in all three games for Sweden and I saw him play against Canada. In that game he got praise from media members for his strong work in the defensive zone. In reality though there was likely something like this going on:
Carlsson while making some good plays struggled overall to the tune of a 41% Corsi. He spent most of the game in his own zone as he has difficulties clearing the puck. He is improved in that area compared to the World Juniors last season but he still lacks puck skills. He looked a little more comfortable with the puck, though panicked when under pressure. He doesn’t have the puck control to carry the puck out of the zone and is inconsistent with his passing. He is however strong without the puck. He has a really active stick in the d-zone and broke up many passing plays. He skates well which helps him when defending on-coming rushes, though he struggled in this game defending his blue line. He was targeted four times with controlled entries and each one lead to a shot attempt.
Offensively he has a booming shot, and in this game was more aggressive in getting it off. He registered an assist as he made a nice play to get the puck to the forward, back off and get into a great one-time position. He got the pass and ripped it; the puck was tipped and went in. The awareness he showed to get in that position was very impressive and something I don’t he would have done last season. Hopefully that style of play can continue as he further improves himself in becoming a 200ft defencemen.
Of note Zach Werenski is still eligible to play for Team USA, however it is very likely he’s playing in the NHL, and made unavailable for the World Juniors, which is why he was not at this event.
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