Montreal Canadiens fans were spoiled at the 2015 World Junior Hockey Championships that took place in Montreal and Toronto. Four of their team’s prospects had made their country’s roster and it was an excellent opportunity to get familiar with the young players and cheer them on. Zach Fucale (Canada), Jacob De La Rose (Sweden), Martin Reway (Slovakia) and Artturi Lehkonen (Finland) all hailed from the 2013 NHL draft and played a big role on their respective teams. Michael McCarron, the Canadiens 1st round draft pick from that year was a December cut from Team USA, perhaps with revisionist history he would have made the team.
This December, the World Juniors will return to Montreal and Toronto. At most, the Canadiens will have two prospects taking part in the tournament. 2015 1st round draft pick Noah Juulsen was one of the last cuts from Canada’s 2016 squad that lost in the Quarter Finals. He is once again taking part in Team Canada’s Summer Camp that is already underway. Thomas Chabot is the only returning defenceman from last year’s squad which means that their are 6 open spots on the backend assuming that Chabot makes the team again. Juulsen should have an edge as a 19 year old as traditionally Hockey Canada likes to take older players on the blueline. His ability to shut down players and crisp first pass was clearly missed during last year’s tournament as Canada struggled against high scoring teams such as Sweden and Finland. Juulsen still has to gain back some weight and muscle as he broke his jaw during the second round of the WHL playoffs. He will be the only Canadiens prospect taking part in the Showcase later this week as Canada will face the USA, Sweden and Finland on TSN.
Mikhail Sergachev, the Canadiens 2016 1st round pick should be a lock to make Team Russia’s final roster. There is a tendency by Russia to not select players that have come over to play in the CHL. However, Sergachev already has a history of suiting up for Russia at previous International tournaments, the most recent being at the World Under 18 Championship this past Spring. With the Juniors taking place in North America, Sergachev should be a shoo-in for team Russia’s final roster.
Unfortunately for Montrealers, Russia and Canada will both pay their preliminary games in Toronto as they will also face USA, Latvia and Slovakia in their pool. Juulsen and Sergachev will only play in Montreal should their teams advance to the playoffs. The teams that are playing in Montreal are Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Denmark and Switzerland.
After Sergachev and Juulsen, the Canadiens junior eligible prospect pool takes a considerable dip. Perhaps Will Bitten, their 2016 3rd round pick could be considered a long shot should he have an incredible start to the season. The lack of second round draft picks the past couple of years certainly play a role in this. However, even if the Canadiens only have one draft pick playing at the tournament, it would at least be an improvement over last year’s where they had none at all…
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