Sad news for the Montreal Canadiens and their top prospects
Every holiday season, Montreal Canadiens fans enjoy following the exploits of the club's prospects at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
However, they might find the tournament long in December as there is a possibility that no Montreal Canadiens prospects will be present at this competition.
No Montreal Canadiens prospects at the next World Junior Championship? A sad possibility that has been raised
It would be unfortunate and a significant loss for the targeted teams, but it could really happen.
One might wonder how and especially why, given that the Canadiens have drafted very well in recent years, we find ourselves in this situation. This was recently explained very well by Charles-Alexis Brisebois in a recent column for the site DLC.
First, in recent days, Hockey Canada unveiled its list of players invited to its summer camps. We can notice that the 21st pick of the last draft, young Michael Hage, is not on this list. Playing in the United States and not in the Canadian system likely hurt his chances. It is still possible that he will be invited to the main camp in December, but it doesn't look very promising.
For those who think Jacob Fowler will once again be in goal for the United States, Grant McCagg quickly put that idea aside. The young goaltender is no longer eligible to participate in this competition due to his birthdate (November 24). He will therefore be considered a 20-year-old, and this tournament is for under-20 players.
It should also be noted that Austria (David Reinbacher) and Russia (Ivan Demidov) will not be in this tournament. Austria did not qualify, while Russia is still sanctioned by the IIHF for reasons we all know.
The only Canadiens prospect with a chance to participate in the Championship is Aatos Koivu. The son of Saku, selected 70th overall in the last draft, is on Finland's list for the summer camp. Making the final roster is not yet guaranteed, though.
So, to summarize, the 2022 class prospects (Lane Hutson, Owen Beck, Filip Mesar, and Juraj Slafkovsky) are too old for the tournament. Those from 2023, aside from Reinbacher and Fowler, have not stood out, and the 2024 prospects, apart from Demidov, Hage, and Koivu, are not far enough along in their development.
However, this situation is not negative. As Brisebois reminds us in his column, it means the club's prospects are aging and maturing. The organization has seen several of its prospects participate in this tournament in recent years, and we are now entering a new phase of the rebuild: developing these young players not in junior hockey but in professional hockey.
I would add that this situation of not having any Canadiens prospects at the World Juniors is only temporary. It will certainly change in the coming years as the young players recently drafted by the club gain experience. It would not be surprising to see some Canadiens prospects (from 2023, 2024, or even 2025) present at subsequent Championships.
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