USA’s 2020 world junior camp roster: A take a look at the snubs and surprises

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The group might be led by the likes of Cole Caufield, Ok’Andre Miller and Spencer Knight and with 28 gamers invited, there will not be many cuts to make. Some gamers might be disenchanted with their lack of an invitation, nevertheless it’s a brief match with no room for error or educating moments.Matthew Boldy|Richard T Gagnon/Getty ImagesTeam USA’s preliminary world junior roster is out and there have been few surprises. Due to the World Junior Summer time Showcase in Michigan, a variety of the reducing down had already been executed, to an extent, and this group has all the weather to win a gold medal within the Czech Republic. Having stated that, let’s stroll by the surprises.
FORWARDSThe most notable identify lacking from the camp roster is left winger Matthew Boldy, however this isn’t a shocker. Certain, you could possibly make the argument that Boldy, the Minnesota Wild prospect taken 12th total in 2019, no less than deserved a crack. Nevertheless, it’s my understanding that USA brass didn’t consider that the younger Boldy could be an influence participant proper now in what’s a brief match. Boldy has a ton of uncooked ability and he’s nonetheless within the means of getting stronger (particularly in his legs, which is able to hypothetically give his skating one other gear sooner or later). The world juniors just isn’t the stage to be studying and rising on. The very fact Boldy has struggled to generate offense as a freshman at Boston School is sort of apart from the purpose: he’ll be one to look at for subsequent 12 months’s squad and there’s no disgrace in needing a bit extra time to develop.
One other WJSS left winger omitted from the December camp is Blake McLaughlin. The Anaheim Geese decide and College of Minnesota sophomore was inconsistent on the summer time camp and he hasn’t precisely been lighting the NCAA on fireplace this 12 months; McLaughlin is definitely a bit behind his freshman offensive tempo proper now.
Detroit decide Robert Mastrosimone did make the minimize after lacking the WJSS attributable to harm. He’s having a pleasant little freshman season with Boston College and will probably be attention-grabbing to see if he can flip heads now.
Lastly, I’d name undrafted Windfall School freshman Parker Ford a shock, however the Individuals all the time appear to deliver an underdog to the world juniors (I name it ‘The Scott Eansor’) and Ford is off to a fantastic begin with the Friars. Workforce USA brass was frightened about their energy down the center and Ford can win faceoffs. The Individuals can even maintain out hope that Oliver Wahlstrom might be loaned out by the New York Islanders and he could be an enormous X-factor because of his expertise and scoring punch.
DEFENSESticking with the Islanders, Bode Wilde just isn’t on the camp roster, although he has been restricted to 5 video games of motion with AHL Bridgeport this season attributable to harm. Given how deep the American choices have been, I can perceive going one other approach right here. Since 10 blueliners made the preliminary minimize, I’d say the largest shock was what number of children the Individuals are bringing. What that tells me is that there are roster battles that might be decided in camp. One to look at for me is Ryan Johnson (Buffalo/College of Minnesota) vs. Jordan Harris (Montreal/Northeastern College). Each are nice puckmovers, however each are additionally left pictures, which the Individuals have an abundance of. Provided that Mattias Samuelsson, Ok’Andre Miller and Cam York are sensible locks, one thing has to present. You’ll be able to in all probability toss UMass freshman Zac Jones (NYR) into that Johnson/Harris battlefield too.
GOALIESFrom my understanding, the Individuals may have three goalies within the Czech Republic, so there might be no thriller at camp: Spencer Knight (Florida/Boston School), Dustin Wolf (Calgary/Everett) and Isaiah Saville (Vegas/Nebraska-Omaha) are the choices. There was a risk of bringing undrafted Michigan State goalie Drew DeRidder to camp, however he wouldn’t have been something greater than a stalking horse and that might have been unfair to him.
Knight is your unquestioned starter right here and primarily based on how he has performed each internationally and domestically for Boston School, count on him to be a significant component on the match.
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Tags: world junior championshipConnect: In regards to the AuthorRyan KennedyRyan Kennedy is the affiliate senior author and draft/prospect professional at The Hockey Information. He has been with the publication since 2005 and in that span, Don Cherry, Lil Jon and The Rock have all known as his home. He lives in Toronto along with his spouse and children the place he listens to loud music and collects NCAA pennants.