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Alexis Lafreniere

Team Canada Announces World Junior Selection Camp Roster

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The World Junior Championship begins at the end of this month in Vancouver, and over the next few weeks countries will be deciding exactly who will be donning the sweater for them at the international tournament. Today, Team Canada revealed their selection camp roster of 33 players which will be whittled down to 23 by December 14th. The group includes many prospects that have already been drafted, and even a few that have already made their NHL debuts.

The full selection camp roster is as follows, with their respective NHL teams in parenthesis:

G Michael DiPietro (VAN)
G Ian Scott (TOR)
G Matthew Villalta (LAK)

D Calen Addison (PIT)
D Nicolas Beaudin (CHI)
D Jacob Bernard-Docker (OTT)
D Evan Bouchard (EDM)
D Josh Brook (MTL)
D Cameron Crotty (ARI)
D Noah Dobson (NYI)
D Pierre-Olivier Joseph (ARI)
D Jared McIsaac (DET)
D Ian Mitchell (CHI)
D Markus Phillips (LAK)
D Ty Smith (NJD)

F Jaret Anderson-Dolan (LAK)
F Shane Bowers (COL)
F Maxime Comtois (ANA)
F Ty Dellandrea (DAL)
F MacKenzie Entwistle (CHI)
F Alex Formenton (OTT)
F Liam Foudy (CBJ)
F Morgan Frost (PHI)
F Cody Glass (VGK)
F Barrett Hayton (ARI)
F Alexis Lafreniere (2020 eligible)
F Raphael Lavoie (2019 eligible)
F Brett Leason (2019 eligible)
F Isaac Ratcliff (PHI)
F Jack Studnicka (BOS)
F Nick Suzuki (MTL)
F Owen Tippett (FLA)
F Joe Veleno (DET)
F Gabe Vilardi (LAK)

Snapshots: Team Canada, Rieder, Vesalainen

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The World Junior Championship is just over a month away, and the selection camp for Team Canada will begin on December 10th in Victoria, British Columbia. That camp will decide who takes part in the top junior tournament in the world, and there are already projections being made on who will be attending. Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet breaks down who he believes will be there battling for roster spots, and the group includes plenty of already drafted NHL prospects. Evan Bouchard (Oilers), Noah Dobson (Islanders) and Ty Smith (Devils) highlight an impressive blue line, while Alex Formenton (Senators), Cody Glass (Golden Knights) and Morgan Frost (Flyers) appear in a forward group that is going to have to cut some extremely talented prospects.

Perhaps most notably is the appearance of Alexis Lafreniere, who isn’t eligible for selection until 2020 but is the early favorite to go first overall. Even though he only turned 17 last month, Lafreniere already has 54 goals and 116 points in 81 regular season QMJHL games. Players as young as him often get left out of tournaments like this given they’ll have other chances in the future, but the Canadian brain trust may just have to bring him along like they have other exceptional talents in the past.

Snapshots: Lafreniere, Quenneville, Heiskanen

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While many teams are curious to see if their team might capture the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft headed by Jack Hughes, who is currently playing for the U.S. Development team in the USHL, others are preparing for the 2020 draft and TSN’s Craig Button released his top 20 for ’20 list, placing Rimouski Oceanic winger Alexis Lafreniere of the QMJHL way ahead of the pack.

Lafreniere tallied 42 goals last year in his rookie campaign in the QMJHL as a 16-year-old and already has posted 12 goals and 36 points in 21 games this year. Button adds that his impressive performances in the IIHF U18 World Championships and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup make him a solid selection as the top-rated player in the draft, followed by Sudbury Wolves center Quinton Byfield and Swedish winger Lucas Raymond.

  • Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston writes that Nick Kypreos reports that former Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville would like to return to work immediately, but is not willing to take on a large rebuilding process like the one that Mike Babcock undertook when he took over the Toronto Maple Leafs. On top of that, any team that wants to hire Quenneville between now and the end of next season would have to assume a considerable portion of the $6MM per season salary that the Chicago Blackhawks still owe him, making it a small group of teams that would likely be interested in his services. Johnston, however, wonders if Quenneville might be willing to change his mind about coaching the Detroit Red Wings if an opening comes about since he’s a native of Windsor, Ont.
  • With the recent loss of Dallas Stars’ top defenseman John Klingberg for four weeks, the team has placed their defensive hopes on rookie blueliner Miro Heiskanen, who suddenly is thrust into the role as the team’s No. 1 defenseman. That has been evident, which included a game-high 29:26 Saturday against the Nashville Predators. The Athletic’s Sean Shairo (subscription required) breaks down the film of the play of Heiskanen. Shapiro suggests that Heiskanen’s innate knack of stick angles and positioning is just one skill that few rookies have a keen grasp on as well as his ability to use his body well without being physical. That should bode well for a team that already has a high-quality No. 1 in Klingberg.

 

 

Snapshots: Lafreniere, Belmont, Nylander

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The World Junior Summer Showcase and Hlinka-Gretzky tournaments are now over, and junior aged players will soon be heading back to their respective teams to get the season underway. The summer headlines were dominated by performances by Jack Hughes, but one young talent may have impressed even more. Alexis Lafreniere won’t be eligible for selection in the NHL Entry Draft until 2020, but could already be one of Canada’s top forwards at the upcoming World Junior tournament. Craig Button of TSN believes the 16-year old Lafreniere should be at the selection camp and could easily climb out of a “13th forward” role normally given to underaged players.

Lafreniere already has a full season in the QMJHL under his belt despite not turning 17 until October and he registered 42 goals which ranked sixth in the entire league. There’s no doubt he’s already one of the CHL’s most talented offensive players, which may lead to a starring role at the late December tournament despite his age. Though teams often try to load up on as many 19-year old players as possible for the U20 tournament, the potential first-overall pick in 2020 could shake things up with a good first part of the CHL season.

  • Anyone that might have been worried about the progress of the New York Islanders future home at Belmont Park can rest easy, as Lou Lamoriello today told Brian Compton of NHL.com that the arena plans are still “100 percent” on track for 2021. The new building will give the Islanders a permanent home and a chance to build some organizational consistency moving forward, something they’ve lacked in recent years. With the John Tavares era over, and a bunch of new voices running the show in Lamoriello and head coach Barry Trotz, the Islanders are trying to turn things around and get back to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in more than thirty years.
  • William Nylander remains without a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but James Mirtle of The Athletic was on TSN Radio where he explained the two sides may wait until much closer to training camp next month to sign a deal. Mirtle suggests that it would likely be either a two-year or six-year contract, given that a seven or eight-year pact would likely get too pricey for the Maple Leafs. Dylan Larkin’s new $6.1MM cap hit is brought up as a “pressure point” which we’ve noted in the past, and could drive Nylander’s price up even further if the Maple Leafs intend on buying out any unrestricted free agent years. Toronto heads to camp in a month, and would presumably like to have their final restricted free agent under contract and in uniform on the first day.

Hlinka Gretzky Cup Rosters Released For U.S.A., Canada

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The Hlinka Gretzky Cup, formerly known as the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, is about to get underway tomorrow in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta. The premiere IIHF U-18 off-season tournament, the Hlinka is one of the first major showcases for draft-eligible talent in their draft year. Scouts and fans alike will be focused on the tournament over the next week, trying to get a look at some of the best in the next wave of NHL prospects. The rosters are set for each participating country, although the majority of players are far from household names at this point in the pre-draft process. However, the U.S. and Canada both promise to bring talented teams loaded with pro upside. Here are those rosters:

Canada

Forwards:

Graeme Clarke, Ottawa (OHL)
Dylan Cozens, Lethbridge (WHL)
Kirby Dach, Saskatoon (WHL)
Dylan Holloway, Okotoks (AJHL)
Peyton Krebs, Kootenay (WHL)
Alexis Lafreniere, Rimouski (QMJHL)
Sasha Mutala, Tri-City (WHL)
Xavier Parent, Halifax (QMJHL)
Jakob Pelletier, Moncton (QMJHL)
Samuel Poulin, Sherbrooke (QMJHL)
Jamieson Rees, Sarnia (OHL)
Ryan Suzuki, Barrie (OHL)
Josh Williams, Medicine Hat (WHL)

Defensemen:

Justin Barron, Halifax (QMJHL)
Bowen Byram, Vancouver (WHL)
Maxence Guenette, Val-d’Or (QMJHL)
Kaeden Korczak, Kelowna (WHL)
Matthew Robertson, Edmonton (WHL)
Braeden Schneider, Brandon (WHL)
Michael Vukojevic, Kitchener (OHL)

Goalies:

Taylor Gauthier, Prince George (WHL)
Nolan Maier, Saskatoon (WHL)

United States

Forwards:

Sam Colangelo, Lawrence Academy (NEPSAC)
John Farinacci, Dexter (NEPSAC)
Josh Groll, Anaheim (T1EHL)
Aaron Huglen, Roseau (HS-MN)
Jackson Jutting, Prior Lake (HS-MN)
Arthur Kaliyev, Hamilton (OHL)
Michael Mancinelli, Madison (USHL)
Robert Mastrosimone, Chicago (USHL)
Josh Nodler, Fargo (USHL)
Tyler Paquette, Des Moines (USHL)
Nicholas Robertson, Peterborough (OHL)
Grant Silianoff, Cedar Rapids (USHL)
Luke Toporowski, Spokane (WHL)

Defensemen:

Dylan Davies, Chicago (HPHL)
Michael Feenstra, Dubuque (USHL)
Mike Koster, Tri-City (USHL)
Jackson LaCombe, Shattuck-St. Mary’s (HS-MN)
Mitchell Miller, Cedar Rapids (USHL)
Luke Reid, Penticton (BCHL)
Cade Webber, Rivers (NEPSAC)

Goalies:

Derek Mullahy, Dexter (NEPSAC)
Dustin Wolf, Everett (WHL)

Hockey Canada Releases 2018 Ivan Hlinka Camp Roster

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One of the tournaments that has a huge impact on draft position is the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, held each year in August for the best U18 players in the world. Many of these players will be eligible for selection in the following draft, though some are even younger than that. It gives many fans a first chance to see some of the top stars that they’ll hear about for the coming season, and an inside look at the prizes their competing for in the first round.

Today, Hockey Canada released its 44-player selection camp roster for the tournament, which will be whittled down in time for the tournament in early August. Among the names are some spectacular talents, including Bowen Byram, arguably the top defenseman available at this point for 2019, and Alexis Lafreniere, an early candidate to go first-overall in 2020. Plenty of other talent like Peyton Krebs, Ryan Suzuki and Dylan Cozens are also competing for a roster spot, making the Canadian roster one to watch out for.

Below is the full roster, along with the year they are eligible to be drafted in:

G Luke Cavallin (2019)
G Taylor Gauthier (2019)
G Mack Guzda (2019)
G Nolan Maier (2019)

D Jacson Alexander (2019)
D Justin Barron (2020)
D Mitchell Brewer (2019)
D Bowen Byram (2019)
D Maxence Guenette (2019)
D Christopher Inniss (2019)
D Braeden Korczak (2019)
D Grayson Ladd (2019)
D Jake Lee (2019)
D Christopher Merisier-Ortiz (2019)
D Matthew Robertson (2019)
D Braden Schneider (2020)
D Nathan Staios (2019)
D Michael Vukojevic (2019)

F Alex Beaucage (2019)
F Brett Budgell (2019)
F Graeme Clarke (2019)
F Brandon Coe (2020)
F Dylan Cozens (2019)
F Kirby Dach (2019)
F Dylan Holloway (2020)
F Ethan Keppen (2019)
F Peyton Krebs (2019)
F Alexis Lafreniere (2020)
F Nathan Legare (2019)
F Dawson Mercer (2020)
F Blake Murray (2019)
F Sasha Mutala (2019)
F Alex Newhook (2019)
F Xavier Parent (2019)
F Jakob Pelletier (2019)
F Samuel Poulin (2019)
F Jamieson Rees (2019)
F Massimo Rizzo (2019)
F Xavier Simoneau (2019)
F Ryan Suzuki (2019)
F Philip Tomasino (2019)
F Josh Williams (2019)
F Nick Wong (2020)
F Connor Zary (2020)

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