On Tuesday Team USA announced their selection camp roster for the upcoming World Juniors. Blue Jackets defence prospect Andrew Peeke was one of the 28 players selected.
Get the details on the preliminary roster for the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team here: https://t.co/wHtSh7IzhU #USAWJC 🇺🇸 https://t.co/tFoNv5ou8L
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) December 5, 2017
Peeke is in his sophomore season at Notre Dame and has one goal and eight assists in 18 games. This is a significant step up in offensive production from his freshman year were he had just four goals and 10 assists in 40 games, but it still not good enough for a player taken with a high second round pick.
For a player of this draft pedigree he should almost be a lock for the World Junior squad, but Peeke is going to be in tough to even make the team. This isn’t a knock on the player, if Peeke was a third or fourth round pick the narrative would be completely different. The Jackets reached for him at the draft and with that comes high expectations.
This is a big tournament for the United States. Not only are they the defending gold medalist they are also hosting the tournament, in Buffalo New York. Their preliminary roster looks very strong and they will be one of the favourites once the team is officially announced. This is a tough roster to crack, and Peeke has his work cut out for him if he wants to get one of those seven spot on defence.
The USA has invited 10 defencemen, which means three players are getting cut. Of the 10, two are locks, Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren, both of whom are returning players. Fox is an offensive defencemen so he and Peeke aren’t competing for the same spot. Lindgren on the other hand plays the same role as Peeke, both are defensive oriented players who don’t bring much on the offensive side. Lindgren has just four points in 18 games this season for the University of Minnesota. There is a case to be made that Peeke should be on the team over him, but Lindgren has the experience and has the leadership intangibles. Lindgren looks like the early favourite to be the captain of Team USA, having been the captain of the U17 team, the U18 team and an assistant captain at Minnesota.
Another player that seems close to a lock is Quinn Hughes. Hughes is a draft eligible player who’s expected to be a top 10 pick and potentially even top five. He’s on the smaller side listed at 5’9, but the US has shown in the past they are willing to bring small defencemen if they can play, see 5’7 Jack Ahcan last year. Hughes can play; he has 10 points in 14 games as a freshman at Michigan.
At the other end of the spectrum two players who look to be on the outskirts are Dylan Samberg and Philip Kemp. Both players were drafted last season, Samberg in the second round and Kemp in the seventh. Like Peeke they are both big but don’t bring much offense. Samberg has four points in 17 games for Minnesota-Duluth, while Kemp has three points in seven games for Yale. I’d give Peeke the edge over both players, as he's a little more offensive than both and is a year older and more developed.
With those five players accounted for it looks like Peeke will be competing with four players, Mikey Anderson, Cole Hults, Scott Perunovich, and Reilly Walsh for the remaining three spots. Hults I think will make the team, he was a fifth rounder by the Kings this past draft but he's having a standout freshman season. Playing for Penn State, Hults has 12 points in 18 games, fourth among freshman defencemen, and tied for 19th in the NCAA. He’s also has size at 6’2 and is a 98 born player. Anderson and Walsh are very similar players. They each were mid-round picks, have average size and have decent numbers this season as freshman. Of the two Walsh has a slight edge being a right shot.
The wildcard here is Perunovich. He’s a 98 born player who has not been drafted. He’s a freshman at Minnesota-Duluth and has done very well with 12 points in 17 games. His major flaw is that he’s 5’9, but as we saw with Ahcan, the US is unafraid to take undersized defencemen. He could very easily make the team as a bottom pair defencemen who sees a ton of time on the power play.
Looking at it all I think Peeke makes the team. He’s a right shot which gives him a big boost, as the USA only invited four right shot defencemen. Peeke doesn’t have much of an offensive game, but on this team they don’t need him to be. Peeke can be steady third pair defencemen who brings some physicality and can play a big role on the PK. It’s not hard to envision Lindgren and Peeke as the top defensive pair on the penalty kill.
Obviously a lot can change once camp starts and once these players play a couple pre-tournament games, but here is the seven defencemen I would take to Buffalo.
Hughes-Fox Lindgren-Walsh Hults-Peeke Perunovich
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