The World Junior Championships, halted in late-December last year due to COVID, will be played Aug. 9-20 in Edmonton, Alta. Today, Team Canada unveiled the 25 players who will be donning the Maple Leaf. As you will see below, there is a distinct Rangers flavor to the squad.

They’re back!

players will wear the at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton.

ROSTER https://t.co/Vs5gBIxaiF
NEWS RELEASE https://t.co/bH3Z0uPAHJ#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/c1maH8PN9p

— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) August 1, 2022

Players that were on the Dec. roster but won't be in Edmonton this August: Kaiden Guhle (MTL), Owen Power (BUF), Xavier Bourgault (EDM), Mavrik Bourque (DAL), Dylan Guenther (ARI), Jake Neighbours (STL), Cole Perfetti (WPG), Justin Sourdif (FLA) and Shane Wright (SEA). https://t.co/AgUNk4E8vq

— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) August 1, 2022

Will Cuylle and Dylan Garand, both on the original squad, will represent their home country in this reboot. The duo will be joined by Brennan Othmann, who was a mildly surprising scratch the first go-round. Garand has a shot to be the team's starting goalie. Cuylle and Othmann both should be in the top-nine with Cuylle playing more of an agitator role and Othmann used to provide offense.

To bring you back, this is what I wrote as tournament play was kicking off in late-December. Kalle Väisänen has a pretty good chance to suit up again for Finland while Brett Berard is pretty much a lock for Team USA, though he won’t get a chance to skate on a line with Matty Beniers, who won't play in the tournament.

Kalle Väisänen (fourth-round 2021) should be on the fourth line for Finland. Will Cuylle is likely to suit up on a similar line placement for the Canadians. As seen below, Dylan Garand gets the nod in net over Sebastian Cossa for Team Canada. The last-minute cancellation of the pre-tourney game between Czehcia and Switzerland cost Jaroslav Chmielař (fifth-round 2021) a chance to earn a spot. Chmelař was the last cut from Czechia's WJC roster yesterday. For the US, Brett Berard will be on the first line with Matt Beniers.

For those of us jonesing for hockey, the tournament is an expected benefit. When play was stopped, the expectation was action would resume in August, which was confirmed early this spring. We all get an opportunity to see some of the young stars, though with camps a month away, several of the kids who were part of the original tourney will not dress did their respective clubs. To help offset those losses, a few 2022 draft picks may be part of of squads, and as in the case of Othmann, some who didn’t make the original rosters will not get their chance to shine.

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