Galchenyuk, Jones get camp invites
The world junior championship will be Seth Jones’ time to shine.
There are three returning players and eight NHL firstround draft picks on the preliminary roster for the U.S. national junior team, but the one who draws the most attention is the young defenceman for the Portland Winterhawks who may go first overall in the 2013 NHL draft.
Also added was Plymouth forward and Ottawa Senators property Stefan Noesen, the 22nd overall pick from the 2011 draft.
Jones, a smooth six-footfour rearguard, was among 27 players named to the U.S. squad’s training camp Dec. 16-18 in Tarrytown, N.Y., at the New York Rangers training base.
The way coach Phil Housley talks about him, it seems like a lock that Jones will be on the 23-man roster for the world junior championship that begins Dec. 26 in Ufa, Russia.
“He’s a special player,” Housley said Tuesday on a conference call. “He’s built for today’s game. He’s big, strong, he skates well and his first pass out of the zone is crisp. His skating has im- proved and he’ll be able to jump into the play offensively. He’s the full package.”
The final roster will be announced after a camp Dec. 19-23 in Helsinki.
The three players back from the U.S. team that finished out of the medal round at the 2012 world juniors are defenceman Jacob Trouba, the Winnipeg Jets’ ninth overall pick from last June, forward J.T. Miller, a New York Rangers’ 2011 first-rounder, and Anaheim Ducks goalie prospect John Gibson.
The invites includes forward Alex Galchenyuk, taken third overall by the Montreal Canadiens, and his Sarnia Sting teammate and Phoenix Coyotes’ 2011 first-rounder Connor Murphy, a defenceman.
Galchenyuk is on a scoring tear in the Ontario Hockey League with 20 goals and 49 points in 28 games and will likely be a top-line player in Ufa.
The U.S. opens play Dec. 27 against Germany.