‘Toba should be well-represented at world juniors Jets prospects, five WHL stars have shot at making Team Canada By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 7:00 PM CST Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020 Last Modified: 9:10 PM CST Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020 Updates

Opinion

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This article was published 18/11/2020 (1779 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The world junior hockey championship has become a holiday season staple for fans, pitting the best teenage prospects from around the world against each other in the name of national pride.

The annual 10-country tournament showcases all the qualities we love about the sport — skill and speed, huge momentum swings and no shortage of heart, courage and emotion — while offering up a tantalizing glimpse of the future on a major international stage.

Like turkey and stuffing or rum and eggnog, it’s a tradition many look forward to.

As much as there is to get excited about, there hasn’t been a whole lot of local flavour for Manitobans to sink their teeth into in recent years. You have to go back six years to find the last time a player drafted by the Winnipeg Jets made Team Canada. And the last five events have featured no more than two skaters with local ties.

But that could be about to change. Of the 47 players invited to a month-long selection camp that began this week in Red Deer, Alta., six have Manitoba connections. That includes one highly touted Jets pick, a Winnipeg Ice star, two homegrown talents and two members of the Brandon Wheat Kings.

It would be a surprise if three or four of them aren’t on the final 25-man roster, which has been expanded by a couple players owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact all teams will be kept inside a bubble in Edmonton.

Competition to make the team is expected to be fierce, especially with the NHL not expecting to start a new season until Jan. 1 at the earliest. That means some players who might otherwise have been playing in the big leagues — including Kirby Dach, who played 64 games with the Chicago Blackhawks last season — are available. There are 26 first-round picks in camp and seven returning players from last year’s gold-medal winning squad.

It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch what unfolds between now and Dec, 13, when final cuts are made following daily on-ice workouts, intrasquad games and six contests against university all-star teams before the puck drops for real on Christmas Day inside Rogers Place.

Here’s a look at the half-dozen local hopefuls, along with my take on their odds of making the squad.

 

F Cole Perfetti: Josh Morrissey, Eric Comrie and Nic Petan were the last Jets prospects to wear the Maple Leaf, helping lead the 2015 squad to the gold medal over Russia to cap off a terrific event held in Toronto and Montreal.

Fun fact: Petan (four goals, seven assists) tied for the tournament scoring lead with some guy named Connor McDavid. Which goes to show what a crapshoot predicting the future development path of young players can be. Safe to say their careers have gone in different directions.

Perfetti should be a lock to end that mini-drought around here. The 18-year-old Ontario Hockey League standout from Whitby (37 goals, 74 assists in 61 games last season), selected 10th-overall by Winnipeg during last month’s draft, will likely play a prominent offensive role with the team, perhaps as a second-line winger given the wealth of centremen available to head coach Andre Tourigny.

A strong showing will only increase the chatter that Perfetti should be given a long look by the Jets to make the big club this coming season. There’s no question his future is bright in Winnipeg, likely as the second-line centre behind Mark Scheifele, and this event will provide him with a great opportunity to shine.

With Ville Heinola and possibly Henri Nikkanen on Team Finland, the Jets should be well-represented this year.

 

F Seth Jarvis: The 18-year-old Winnipeg kid, taken three spots after Perfetti by the Carolina Hurricanes, has proven himself to be an elite right-winger in the Western Hockey League (42 goals, 56 assists in 58 games last season with the Portland Winterhawks). His playmaking abilities are elite for his age, and a top-six role is a strong possibility, perhaps even on a line with Perfetti as some have speculated.

Throw second-overall pick Quinton Byfield between them (Dach is expected to anchor the top line), and you have the makings of an intriguing second line that should have local puck watchers drooling.

Jarvis should be the latest local talent to play for Canada, on the heels of Winnipeg goalie Joel Hofer and Brandon defenceman Calen Addison (2020), Winnipeg forward Cody Glass and Roblin defenceman Josh Brook (2019), and Oakbank forward Brett Howden (2018) and Elkhorn defenceman Travis Sanheim (2016).

 

F Peyton Krebs: The Alberta product, selected 17th-overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2019 draft, is a familiar face to many Winnipeggers as a star with the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice. His debut season in River City was short but definitely sweet, with 12 goals and 48 assists in 38 games.

Krebs, 19, was on the radar for last year’s team but was recovering from a serious Achilles injury that ultimately cost him a spot. A natural centre, he may be forced to shift to the wing given the crowd up the middle. But given his talent, a role in the top nine is his for the taking.

Still, the forward depth is especially impressive, so Krebs shouldn’t take anything for granted. He’ll need to earn his spot.

 

D Braden Schneider: The Prince Albert, Sask., native has become one of the top defencemen in the WHL over the past three seasons with the Wheat Kings. Schneider, 19, was selected 19th overall by the New York Rangers last month and should slot in for a top-four role on the blue line with the national team.

At 6-2 and 202 pounds, he provides physical punch along with a strong two-way game, as proven by his career-high seven goals and 35 assists in junior last season.

Schneider would become the first member of the Wheat Kings to make Team Canada since defencemen Kale Clague, now in the Los Angeles Kings system, played on the 2017 and 2018 teams.

 

D Daemon Hunt: The 18-year-old from Brandon, who has played the last three seasons with the Moose Jaw Warriors, is definitely in tough. There are 15 defencemen in Red Deer, and only eight of them are expected to make the team.

With the WHL season yet to begin, Hunt did get in three games with the Virden Oil Capitals of the MJHL (three goals, two assists), prior to the province moving to code-red status that shut down the league.

Hunt, who was drafted in the third round (65th overall) by the Minnesota Wild, will need an exceptional camp to move ahead of more highly touted prospects and work his way into the equation.

 

F Ridly Greig: The Wheat Kings forward, picked 28th overall by the Ottawa Senators last month, already faced an uphill battle. Then came word from his agent on Wednesday, via TSN, that the 18-year-old tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 8. He remains asymptomatic at home in Lethbridge, Alta., and is expected to join the camp when his 14-day quarantine ends.

Tourigny said he expects Greig to be available at some point during camp. But a shorter runway to prove his worth against so many other hopefuls won’t be helpful.

Greig had 26 goals and 34 assists in 56 games last season, proving himself to be a strong two-way centre.

 

Bottom line: Perfetti, Jarvis, Krebs and Schneider appear to be on track to make the team, while Hunt and Greig are long shots at this stage. But plenty could change over the next four weeks, so this is a competition worth keeping a close eye on.

 

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg