WORLD JUNIOR TO WATCH
WESTERN CONFERENCE
At six-foot, 180 pounds Canada’s SAM STEEL doesn’t impose his will on opponents, but he gets his way with keen awareness and vision. He’s also a great skater, possibly because his backyard rink growing up was sophisticated enough for his Regina Pats to practise there in 2015. Steel led the WHL in scoring through late November.
CLAYTON KELLER, a Shattuck St. Mary’s graduate and U.S. NTDP alum, is primed for a WJC breakout. The 5-foot-10 center is highly confident, believing he will be NHL-bound after his first year in the NCAA. Keller sustained a lower-body injury with Boston University in November but wasn’t expected to miss the WJC.
After spending two seasons with the U.S. NTDP, ADAM FOX is now a Harvard freshman. The smallish blueliner was just the 19th Crimson player chosen in the first three rounds of the NHL draft. Fox is offense-minded but also responsible in his own end. He was named top defenseman at the world under-18s in April.
Team USA got magic – and a gold medal – from little Johnny Gaudreau in 2013. Could 5-foot-7, 170-pound ALEX DEBRINCAT get the same results? With OHL Erie, he started 2016-17 with 19 goals and 40 points through just 18 games. If he hits the 50-goal mark, he’ll be just the second CHLer to do it three times.
TYSON JOST blends youthful, up-tempo attacking with maturity. He filled the net in the BCHL with the Penticton Vees and transitioned nicely to the NCAA this fall. The Avs see him as a future captain, which fits since he’s been compared to Joe Sakic. Canada will rely on Jost’s leadership as it attempts to rebound at the WJC.
Valeri Nichushkin’s return to Russia shouldn’t spook anyone about DENIS GURIANOV, another first-rounder who plays a similar skilled power forward game. Gurianov did the opposite this season: left the KHL and crossed the Atlantic to play with AHL Texas. He was a late cut from Russia’s 2016 world junior squad.
Hailing from the same Finnish town as Patrik Laine, Teppo Numminen and Aleksander Barkov, AAPELI RASANEN crossed the Atlantic for his first season in the USHL this year. He’s a responsible and highly skilled two-way center. Many believe he has the makings of a specialteams dynamo and has top-six potential.