Canada’s 2018 World Junior Championship selection camp got underway on Tuesday, with 33 players trying to grab one of the final roster spots after final cuts are made on Friday.
The players hit the ice for practices on Tuesday, but the games begin on Wednesday, when Canada plays against a collection of USports players. They’ll do it again on Thursday night before a Friday exhibition game against Denmark closes out the selection camp. At that time, the final cuts will be made and we’ll know the final roster.
Before we get that far, we look at each of the players at selection camp, with a note on what they’re doing this season or what they could bring to Team Canada.
GOALIES
Michael DiPietro, Windsor, OHL
Drafted: Round 3, 64th overall, by Vancouver in 2017
The third of 21 goalies picked in the NHL Draft last summer, DiPietro doesn’t fit the mould of what a modern big-league goalie is, standing just 6-feet tall and weighing 200 pounds. But his relatively small size isn’t stopping him from putting up strong numbers in the OHL, where he is third among all starters with a .917 save percentage and fourth with a 2.67 goals-against average.
Carter Hart, Everett, WHL
Drafted: Round 2, 48th overall, by Philadelphia in 2016
The only returning netminder from last year’s team, Hart will most likely be Canada’s starter at this year’s WJC, barring a couple bad starts. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder playing with the Everett Silvertips in the WHL is dominating that league with a .961 save percentage — an astounding 30 points higher than the next-best starter, Portland’s Cole Kehler at .931.
Samuel Harvey, Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL
Drafted: N/A
Harvey is one of the surprise additions to this year’s Team Canada selection camp as one of the seven players who weren’t invited to the summer showcase. But the 19-year-old who has twice been passed over at the NHL Draft has taken a huge step forward in the QMJHL this season with a league-leading .924 save percentage — it’s the first time in his four years with the Huskies that he’s been above .900.
Colton Point, Colgate, NCAA
Drafted: Round 5, 128th overall, by Dallas in 2016
After inviting just two NCAA players to last year’s selection camp, Canada has four on board for this year’s camp, including Point. He is the biggest of the four goalies at camp (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) and is second in the ECAC with a stellar .938 save percentage. A native of North Bay, Ont., Point has Canadian-American dual citizenship, but has never competed internationally before, so earning a spot on this roster would determine his standing for the future, too.
DEFENCE
Jake Bean, Calgary, WHL
Drafted: Round 1, 13th overall, by Carolina in 2016
One of seven players returning from last year’s silver medal-winning team, Bean is scoring at better than a point-per-game pace for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen and figures to be an important part of Canada’s blue line, especially the power play. He had just two points in seven games at last year’s tournament.
Dennis Cholowski, Prince George, WHL
Drafted: Round 1, 20th overall, by Detroit in 2016
With 25 points in 28 games, the Prince George Cougars captain is having a great season since heading to the WHL after one season with the NCAA’s St. Cloud State. Cholowski may not be one of the favourites to make the final roster, but he is one of the few players at selection camp with pro experience, having played one game with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins last season.
Kale Clague, Brandon, WHL
Drafted: Round 2, 51st overall, by Los Angeles in 2016
Another returning defenceman, Clague was second to Thomas Chabot in scoring from the blue line on last year’s WJC team, so he’s as close to a lock to make this year’s roster as can be. With 47 points in 28 WHL games this season, Clague is 10 points clear of the second-highest scorer at his position (Colby Sissons).
Dante Fabbro, Boston University, NCAA
Drafted: Round 1, 17th overall, by Nashville in 2016
Likely to end up on the final roster due to the fact he was on last year’s team, Fabbro is growing in the NCAA where he will likely soon pass his offensive totals from last season. But he’s less of a specialist at that end of the ice and will probably be leaned on as part of Canada’s PK unit.
Mario Ferraro, UMass, NCAA
Drafted: Round 2, 49th overall, by San Jose in 2017
A 5-foot-10, puck-moving defenceman, Ferraro is averaging a point every other game while taking on a huge role for UMass-Amherst. Ferraro has turned heads in his freshman season and making Team Canada would draw that attention to a much wider audience. Ferraro is the second-highest drafted player to ever suit up for UMass-Amherst, the highest being his current partner Cale Makar, who is also on Canada’s selection camp roster.
Cal Foote, Kelowna, WHL
Drafted: Round 1, 14th overall, by Tampa Bay in 2017
A towering 6-foot-4, 212-pound defenceman, Foote is the second American-Canadian dual citizen at this camp who could be playing in his first international tournament later this month. The son of former NHLer Adam Foote, Cal may have been given a shot to make last year’s WJC team, but the IIHF deemed him ineligible because he hadn’t lived, or played long enough within Canada.
Josh Mahura, Regina, WHL
Drafted: Round 3, 85th overall, by Anaheim in 2016
A 6-foot-1 offensive defenceman, Mahura was part of a big trade sending him to the Regina Pats last season, for whom he’ll play at the Memorial Cup in 2018. Another promising blueliner in the Ducks’ deep system, Mahura is now scoring at better than a point-per-game pace in the WHL and is a top-seven scorer at the position.
Cale Makar, UMass, NCAA
Drafted: Round 1, Fourth overall, by Colorado in 2017
Like Fabbro, Makar also played Jr. A before moving into the NCAA this season, though Makar came out of the AJHL. With UMass-Amherst, he has nine points in 16 games. If the three returning defencemen from last year’s team can be considered locks, along with Victor Mete after the Canadiens loaned him for the tournament, there will only be two starting positions left on the blue line. It will be hard not to give one of those to the fourth-overall NHL Draft pick, who was selected earlier than any other player on this list.
Logan Stanley, Kitchener, OHL
Drafted: First round, 18th overall, by Winnipeg in 2016
A massive defenceman standing 6-foot-7 and weighing 231 pounds, Stanley would be a physical force at this event, but there is some question about his foot speed. When Stanley was left off the selection camp roster in his draft-plus-one season he was considered one of the top snubs and has a chance to show people how wrong they were about him.
Conor Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, OHL
Drafted: Round 2, 32nd overall, by Colorado in 2017
The fourth-highest scoring OHL blueliner with 34 points in 28 games, the 6-foot-1 Timmins was great in the CIBC Canada/Russia Series and would bring strong skating and puck moving to the final Canadian roster.
Victor Mete, Montreal Canadiens, NHL
Drafted: Round 4, 100th overall, by Montreal in 2016
The only NHLer released to the WJC by his team so far, Mete figures to play a lead role on the Canadian team and his inclusion will make it harder on guys like Timmins, Makar, Ferraro and Mahura to make the final cut. Mete’s NHL experience will go a long way in this tournament, and his game-breaking speed stands to make a huge difference.
FORWARDS
Jonathan Ang, Peterborough, OHL
Drafted: Round 4, 94th overall, by Florida in 2016
Ang has progressed in each of his OHL seasons, moving from 20 to 49 to 59 points the past three seasons and currently scoring at a 70-plus point pace.
Drake Batherson, Cape Breton, QMJHL
Drafted: Round 4, 121st overall, by Ottawa in 2017
Could he be this year’s big surprise hero for Team Canada? Batherson is having a huge breakout season just a couple of months after he slipped to the Senators in the fourth round of the NHL Draft. Fifth in the QMJHL with 39 points in 24 games, Batherson is already just five goals short of last year’s total. He wasn’t on the radar in the summer as Canada left him out of the summer showcase.
Maxime Comtois, Victoriaville, QMJHL
Drafted: Round 2, 50th overall, by Anaheim in 2017
Once considered a first-round NHL Draft prospect, Comtois fell to the back half of the second round after his junior point totals regressed in his draft year. The 6-foot-2, 212-pounder is bouncing back to point-per-game status this season after being left out of the summer showcase. Worth noting that in 12 games across two years at the under-18s he struggled to make a difference on the scoresheet, totalling three goals and four points.
Dillon Dube, Kelowna, WHL
Drafted: Round 2, 56th overall, by Calgary in 2016
Returning from last year’s WJC, Dube is still looking for his first goal at the event, though he did record three assists last year. He has been above a point-per-game player for three years in the WHL and though he’s down from last year’s pace overall, Dube is heating up lately with 21 points in his past 12 games. Dube started Day 1 of the selection camp in a non-contact jersey, but he hasn’t missed any games in the WHL, so as of now, it’s not a big concern.
Alex Formenton, London, OHL
Drafted: Round 2, 47th overall, by Ottawa in 2017
Already with one NHL game under his belt so soon after being a second-round pick, Formenton has returned to London of the OHL a point-per-game player. He’s fast, stands 6-foot-2 and seems to be on the inside track for a WJC roster spot.
Jonah Gadjovich, Owen Sound, OHL
Drafted: Round 2, 55th overall, by Vancouver in 2017
He missed nearly a month with a wrist injury, but Gadjovich has been back on his game since returning with 17 points in 13 games since Nov. 11. As Iain MacIntyre mentioned in his Canucks prospect report, Gadjovich is a meat-and-potatoes net-front force, a la Tomas Holmstrom, with more size and a better shot.
Cody Glass, Portland, WHL
Drafted: Round 1, Sixth overall, by Vegas in 2017
He is a central part of one of the top lines in all of junior hockey with Skyler McKenzie and Kieffer Bellows, the latter of which could play for Team USA at the WJC. Glass scored 94 points last season and, as Neate Sager noted recently, has stepped up his game on the defensive side of the puck this season. His offence hasn’t suffered either, as he could go over 100 points for the first time.
Brett Howden, Moose Jaw, WHL
Drafted: Round 1, 27th overall, by Tampa Bay in 2016
Howden didn’t make it through selection camp last year, but if he can make the cut this time he’ll become the second Howden to suit up for Canada at the WJC as his brother, Quinton, did so in the 2012 event. He was injured at the Canada-Russia series, but has since returned to the Moose Jaw lineup and can play in all sorts of different roles for Canada.
Tanner Kaspick, Brandon, WHL
Drafted: Round 4, 119th overall, by St. Louis in 2016
One of two Brandon Wheat Kings at selection camp (Clague being the other), Kaspick is a bubble player heading into camp and hasn’t represented Canada since the under-17 event in 2015. He’s not big at 6-foot-1, but brings a sandpaper element to his game and leads the Wheat Kings with 39 PIMs.
Boris Katchouk, Sault Ste. Marie, OHL
Drafted: Round 2, 44th overall, by Tampa Bay in 2016
The fifth-highest scorer in the OHL with 27 goals and 45 points in 30 games, Katchouk has broken out of his shell for the Hounds this season and may be an underrated sniper to watch at camp. Worth noting that in Game 4 of the Canada-Russia series, Katchouk was named captain of Team OHL.
Jordan Kyrou, Sarnia, OHL
Drafted: Round 2, 35th overall, by St. Louis in 2016
Speaking of offensive difference makers, Kyrou is the highest scorer in the OHL with 58 points in 30 games, which is 18 points clear of the second-highest scorer on his own team, the second-place Sarnia Sting. The 6-footer had 94 points last season and is lining up as a key producer for a Canadian team that will lack a superstar individual prospect.
Kole Lind, Kelowna, WHL
Drafted: Round 2, 33rd overall, by Vancouver in 2017
Recognized for his high hockey IQ, Lind was a top-10 scorer in the WHL until a bout with strep throat slowed him through most of November. But he’s back now and added four points in his last three games before the selection camp opened.
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Michael McLeod, Mississauga, OHL
Draft: Round 1, 12th overall, by New Jersey in 2016
By the end of the 2018 WJC, McLeod could be a name that stands out for the members of the Canadian fan base that aren’t already familiar with him. McLeod had two goals and an assist at last year’s WJC so will likely carve out a bigger role this year as a returning player. And he had more exposure to NHL life than most of the other Canadian players — McLeod didn’t play for the New Jersey Devils, but stuck on the NHL roster longer than expected after sustaining a knee injury in the pre-season. He’s come back to the OHL and posted 13 points in 11 games.
Taylor Raddysh, Erie, OHL
Drafted: Round 2, 58th overall, by Tampa Bay in 2016
Another returnee and another Tampa Bay pick with upside. Raddysh was one of the better stories on last year’s team after he posted five goals in seven games at the WJC. He’ll be counted on again to be someone to find the back of the net at key moments.
Sam Steel, Regina, WHL
Drafted: Round 1, 30th overall, by Anaheim in 2016
The final cut (and biggest snub) on last year’s Canadian WJC team, Steel went on to finish as the WHL scoring leader with 131 points in 66 games. He’s not converting at nearly that level this season, but is still a significant presence on offence and a favourite to stick on the final roster this time.
Tyler Steenbergen, Swift Current, WHL
Drafted: Round 5, 128th overall, by Arizona in 2017
The player drafted latest from 2017 to be included on the selection camp roster, the 5-foot-10 Steenbergen is a surprise in that he’s never played for Canada before. Still, he has the most goals of any CHL player with 35 in 27 games and posted 51 in 72 games last season. He also comes into camp injured, but according to Sam Cosentino, Hockey Canada is confident he’s healthy enough to participate in practices at camp.
Nick Suzuki, Owen Sound, OHL
Drafted: Round 1, 13th overall, by Vegas in 2017
The older brother of Ryan, who was the first-overall OHL pick last summer, Nick is a dynamic scorer in his own right, as evidenced by the 96 points he put up last season to finish as a top-five scorer in the league. He’s currently sixth in the OHL with 44 points and has played for Canada at the under-17 and under-18 tournaments before.
Robert Thomas, London, OHL
Drafted: Round 1, 20th overall, by St. Louis in 2017
With two more points than Suzuki, Thomas is fourth in OHL scoring with 46 points in 20 games and well on his way to blowing past the 66 points he put up last year en route to becoming a first-round NHL pick.
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