Fans in Ottawa likely didn’t get the result they wanted in last night’s Gold Medal Game at the World Junior Championship. Team Canada lost a 2-0 decision to their rivals from the United States, and was forced to settle for silver in front of empty seats at Rogers Place in Edmonton. After dominating much of the tournament, the Canadians were stymied by a near-perfect performance from the Americans.
Despite the Canadian disappointment, it turned out to be an otherwise good day for the future of the Ottawa Senators. With the United States squad, 2020 draft picks Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven were able to capture gold. For Team Finland, Roby Jarventie grabbed a bronze medal. And then there’s Tim Stuetzle, who was named the TOURNAMENT’S best forward, despite his German squad being eliminated in the quarterfinals. The play of their two top 2020 selections, in particular, has to give the Senators optimism about what’s to come for this group.
On that note, the heroics of Stuetzle for Team Germany have been well documented. Beyond the fact that he tallied ten points in only five games, Stuetzle made Germany’s games appointment viewing. He showcased speed, creativity, smarts, and almost every other quality you could want to see out of a recent third overall pick. Accordingly, it was no surprise when many commentators described him as the most NHL-ready prospect in the tournament. While he’ll still have to earn his spot with the Senators, every indication suggests that he’ll be on the opening night roster with a chance to make a real difference for this team.
At the other end of the spectrum, Sanderson’s success came in an almost opposite way. On paper, he did very little throughout the tournament. He wasn’t a point-producer for the Americans, he wasn’t a highlight generator, and he wasn’t exactly an example of speed or creativity. But those aren't the things he was there to do. When the Americans needed to play a shutdown game to stifle Canada’s neutral zone attack on the tournament’s biggest stage, Sanderson was there. He was a major reason that the Canadians failed to get anything going through significant stretches of last night’s game. There’s obviously an argument to be made that taking a defensive-defenseman at fifth overall comes with risk, but that’s out of Sanderson’s control; he had a job to do, and he did it incredibly well last night.
For Ottawa, the World Junior Championship served as another reminder that better days are on the horizon. Those days might not come this year in the North division, but they aren’t too much further away. If all goes right, Tim Stuetzle and Jake Sanderson will play a material role in that future success.
As always, thanks for reading.