Breaking Down Canada’s World Junior Preliminary Roster Reveal

Canada’s much-anticipated preliminary roster for the World Junior Championship was announced on Monday, December 8th. 27 names will be vying for 24 spots on the final roster heading in to Canada’s opener on Boxing Day against the Czechs. Canada had their hearts ripped out on home soil last year in a quarter final loss to the Latvians.

The narrative around last year’s team was that the roster was built on grit rather than skill. This year, Canada’s roster is built around skill, featuring almost exclusively first-round talent. Three high end draft eligibiles in Gavin McKenna, Keaton Verhoeff and Carson Carels also found their way on the roster.

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Canada’s Roster Welcomes Back 6 Returnees from Last Year’s Squad

Returning from last year’s disappointment in Ottawa are Porter Martone, Cole Beaudoin, Jett Luchanko and the two goalies in Carter George and Jack Ivankovic. Martone, a 6th overall pick of the Flyers in last year’s draft, has shown tremendous chemistry with McKenna in the past. This could be just what Gavin needs to turn his draft year around and help lead Canada to gold.

Joining Martone and McKenna and the rest of the returnees are current NHLers in Zayne Parekh and Michael Misa. Misa and Parekh, like Sennecke, were left at home last year and will be huge impact players on this team. Harrison Brunicke is also a huge get on the back end from the Penguins.

Could More NHL Help Be On The Way for Canada?

Celebrini, Schaefer and Sennecke are all are out of the equation with their play in the NHL. Berkly Catton out of Seattle is also unavailable due to injury. However, Sam Dickinson of the Sharks and Ben Kindel of Pittsburgh may be still available. Dickinson is currently playing a sheltered 3rd-pairing role in San Jose, and the production just isn’t there yet. A trip to the WJC for Sam could significantly elevate Canada’s D-Core and benefit his long-term development.

As for Kindel, he continues to impress in a middle-six capacity for the Penguins and may be less likely to get than Dickinson. Kindel’s high IQ is complimenting Pittsburgh’s ageing greats and they may be more keen on keeping him through the year. Whether the Canadians add the two or not, the roster features plenty of talent capable of bringing gold back where it belongs.

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