Last year we saw the likes of Connor McDavid and Lawson Crouse excel for Team Canada at the world juniors before going on to be high NHL draft picks.
This year there are three draft-eligible Canadians hoping to make an impact for their country at the annual tournament. Of the 30 players named to the selection camp roster, 27 have already been drafted by NHL teams. The three that haven’t are QMJHL forwards Pierre-Luc Dubois and Julien Gauthier and standout OHL blueliner Jakob Chychrun.
There’s no guarantee they all make the final 22-man roster, which team management will finalize Dec. 19, but all three are promising candidates.
With that in mind, here is director of player personnel for Hockey Canada and Canada’s national junior team Ryan Jankowski’s take on the three players.
Pierre-Luc Dubois
Position: Centre
Age: 17
Team: Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, QMJHL
2015-16 stats: GP 30 | G 19 | A 24 | PIM 41 | +16
“Pierre-Luc Dubois got off to a really good start this year. He was a key player for us at the Ivan Hlinka tournament. Got off to a good start, played well in the Canada-Russia games, but really took his game to the next level after the Canada-Russia games with 14 points in four games for Cape Breton. We’re excited to have him. We think his overall body of work we’ve seen with Hockey Canada has been high. He brings some size, he brings some compete, but he brings a well-roundedness to his game that has some underlying skill and ability to create offence, which makes him nicely well-rounded for us.”
Julien Gauthier
Position: Right Wing
Age: 18
Team: Val d’Or Foreurs, QMJHL
2015-16 stats: GP 27 | G 23 | A 8 | PIM 16 | +14
“It’s his third year in the CHL. He’s a late birthday; he’s a 1997 born. He’s got NHL size — 6-foot-4, 215 pounds — he’s a tremendous skater and he’s got a great shot. I know at one point he had 20 goals and four assists which goes to show you the type of game that he plays. You’re always looking to score goals. You want certainly to have that aspect in your lineup and he brings that, but what I do like is that he’ll power down the wing and get to the net with pucks. It’s not just his shot, he does get into the tougher areas to win puck battles and get pucks to the net, which you want to have a blend of size and skill in your lineup.”
Jakob Chychrun
Position: Defence
Age: 17
Team: Sarnia Sting, OHL
2015-16 stats: GP 25 | G 4 | A 12 | PIM 12 | +9
“Jakob Chychrun has always been an elite player in his age group. He thinks the game extremely well, he defends very well, he’s got a very pro-sized body, he’s very strong for his age. Given all that, he moves the puck extremely well and he can skate. We saw in the Canada-Russia series his ability to adjust to the higher level of play very seamlessly and that’s what makes him such an intriguing player for us but also in the 2016 NHL Draft.”
Selection camp is scheduled to take place from Dec. 10-13 in Toronto where Hockey Canada management will make their final evaluations. As part of the camp, Team Canada hopefuls will play two exhibition games against an all-star team comprised of players from Canadian universities.
The 2016 world juniors take place in Helsinki, Finland with the tournament beginning on Dec. 26. Here is a look at Team Canada’s full selection camp roster:
