Team Canada has released their 2016-17 National Junior Team Development Camp Roster, nine players are returning to camp from last year’s 6th place team; defenseman Thomas Chabot (OTT), forwards Mathew Barzal (NYI), Anthony Beauvellier (NYI), Lawson Crouse (FLA), Julien Gauthier (’16 Draft), Travis Konecny (PHI), Mitchell Marner (TOR), Mitchell Stephens (TB) and Dylan Strome (ARI). Two 2017 Draft eligible players are invited; forward Nolan Patrick from the Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) and defenseman Cal Foote from the Kelowna Rockets (WHL).
A couple of names that stand out that aren’t returnees, Jakob Chychrun (’16 Draft) was close to making the squad last year and will look to impress Team Canada this time around in camp, could also be motivated depending how the draft turns out tomorrow. Could be the top defensemen, but could also fall out of the Top 10. 2015 Memorial Cup game winning goal scorer Anthony Cirelli (TB) has been acknowledged for his hard work, invited for the first time to Development Camp. Cirelli’s story is a strange one, he made the Oshawa Generals out of training camp as an undrafted free agent. Tyson Jost (’16 Draft) will look to continue his incredible scoring pace at the International level. At the Under-18 World Championships in Grand Forks this past year, he recorded 6-9-15 in seven games (2.1 pts/gp). Jost was the leading scored in that tournament.
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Team Canada Under-18 Development Camp Roster can be found HERE.
Michael DiPietro, from the Windsor Spitfires (OHL) is likely the starting goaltender for the Under-18’s.
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Team Canada Under-17 Development Camp Roster can be found HERE.
Three names to keep an eye on at the Under-17’s and your draft list for ’99 born players; two defensemen drafted first overall in the OHL Draft Ryan Merkley (Guelph) and second overall Owen Lalonde (Sudbury). In the QMJHL draft forward Benoit-Olivier Groulx and defenseman Jared McIsaac both drafted by Halifax Mooseheads first and second overall.
Team Canada defensemen are looking strong once again in the 2018 NHL Draft eligibles. Should be interesting who finds the spotlight the quickest around the scouting community to be #1 overall.
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Team USA also released their list of players invited to the 2016 USA National Junior Evaluation Camp, five players are returning to camp from last year’s bronze medal team; defensemen Chad Krys (’16 Draft) and Charlie McAvoy (’16 Draft), forwards Brock Boeser (VAN), Alex DeBrincat (’16 Draft), Matthew Tkachuk (’16 Draft). Four 2017 Draft eligible players are invited; goaltender Jake Oettinger from the USHL, defenseman Luke Martin from the USHL, forwards Casey Mittelstadt from Eden Prairie High School (USHS) and Kailer Yamamoto from the Spokane Chiefs (WHL).
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Clayton Keller ('16 Draft), Kailer Yamamoto ('17 Draft) and Logan Brown ('16 Draft( all had really good Under-18 tournaments for USA, Keller had 4-10-14, Yamamoto had 7-6-13 and Brown had 3-9-12, the three were 2nd, 3rd and 4th in scoring. Joey Anderson ('16 Draft) finished with 7-2-9. The USA world junior team this coming year could be young and very high scoring. They are a team to watch out for this year.
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A bunch of Dobber Prospect writer/scouts are in Buffalo this weekend for the NHL Draft. Follow them on twitter for draft updates: Peter Harling (Managing Editor), Dave MacDonald (Vancouver Canucks Senior Writer/Scout), Aynsley Scott (Winnipeg Jets Writer/Scout), Erik Schiefer (Columbus Blue Jackets Writer/Scout) and Chris Crawford (Florida Panthers Writer/Scout).
DobberProspects is going to be ramping up rather quickly after the draft is complete with all new profiles being created quickly for the upcoming fantasy season and keeper/dynasty drafts that will be starting rather soon.
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Feel free to leave comments, questions or concerns below, have fun playing the game of Fantasy Hockey.
Paul Zwambag
@zwambag