World Juniors notebook: Assessing Team Canada after 1st round of cuts

Ahead of the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships in the Czech Republic, Team Canada made its initial wave of cuts on Thursday — with the roster to be finalized shortly.

There’s a lot of veteran talent, combined with a host of draft-eligible players that make this year’s team among the most compelling in years.

Here’s what you need to know as the tournament inches closer.

Hayton, Veleno provide professional experience

This year’s entry continued to grow stronger as the week progressed. It was announced Monday that Detroit Red Wings prospect Joe Veleno would be made available, while the Arizona Coyotes loaned forward Barrett Hayton to Team Canada before the cuts were made on Thursday for the duration of the tournament. In Hayton’s case, it’s an opportunity to showcase his high-end talent while he’s played sparingly during his professional season, something that Coyotes general manager John Chayka alluded to.

Veleno will likely be paired with Alexis Lafreniere, while Hayton ought to feature through the middle on one of Canada’s two scoring lines. Their professional experience should settle a team that now returns five players from last year’s tournament in British Columbia — operating under the assumption that they’re all locks to make the final roster. Although they’re a talented squad, Canada will need all the help it can get in trying to put last year’s sixth-place disaster behind them.

Waiting on Dach, Dobson

Hayton and Veleno might not be the only pros on the team this year, in what could quickly become one of the deepest Canadian rosters in recent memory. After the first round of cuts, 14 forwards remain, but there will be an imminent release if the Chicago Blackhawks elect to make Kirby Dach eligible for the tournament.

It would be conjecture to make a declarative statement on whether Dach is freed up or not, with five goals and 10 points in 25 games this season. If he’s made eligible, Canada will have found its last forward and Dach will be promoted to the top-six where he could be on a line with fellow NHLer Hayton.

It’s not just the forward corps that could stand to benefit from some late additions. Canada named seven defencemen to the preliminary roster, but that may change if the New York Islanders allow Noah Dobson to join the team.

Dobson has played just eight games with the Islanders and hasn’t exhausted his first-year eligibility, but he’s now been afforded a larger opportunity with Nick Leddy out of the lineup due to injury. He may be too valuable at the moment for a 20-7-2 Islanders team that is fighting for the top seed in the Metropolitan Division. If Dobson is loaned, though, Team Canada will have three returnees on the blue line from last year’s entry with Ty Smith and Jared McIsaac also back.

Drysdale’s safe, for now

Jamie Drysdale is one of the most entertaining players eligible in the 2020 NHL Draft and the Erie Otters standout is safe, for now. If Dobson returns, he’ll likely be the odd man out on Canada’s defence corps and what a shame it would be. In Monday’s notebook, I compared Drysdale to Nashville Predators standout Ryan Ellis due to his skating and ability to quarterback the power play.

This video, courtesy of Prospect Film Room, gives you a look into Drysdale’s high-end offensive game:

It’ll be compelling to see if Dobson makes the team and supplants Drysdale as both offer Canada a right-handed shot who can drive traffic and enter the zone fluidly.

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