Montreal Canadiens: Notes from Day 1 of the Summer Showcase

Jacob Oloffson and Cayden Primeau were the only Montreal Canadiens prospects to see time at the World Junior Summer Showcase on Monday.

Day one of the 2018 World Junior Summer Showcase has come and gone. There were two games played involving both United States teams, Finland, and Sweden. Montreal Canadiens 2017 first-round pick Ryan Poehling was scratched for USA (Blue)’s game against Sweden while Cayden Primeau and Jacob Oloffson saw the ice. There shouldn’t be too much in the decision not to play Poehling as he’s probably already pencilled in for USA’s World Junior Hockey Championship team.

Oloffson was tasked with centring the top line with Lucas Elvenes and Fabian Zetterberg on his wings. The 18-year-old also received time on Sweden’s second powerplay unit slotting in on the right side of the with Chicago Blackhawks prospect Adam Bodqvist taking the point (per Corey Pronman).

Sweden took the game by a score of 3-1 but Oloffson was held off the scoreboard.

The second match of the night saw Primeau get the start against Team Finland.

USA (White) made things easy for him scoring three goals in the opening period and holding their opponents to only eight shots. The 2017 seventh-round pick allowed two goals by the end of the game making a total of 16 saves.

A .889 save percentage isn’t the best, but Primeau made the stops to keep the domination on Finland consistent throughout the game.

Day two at the WJSS has three games on the schedule, and this may be the time Poehling to play as USA (Blue) will be taking on Canada (White). Oloffson may be called to play against Finland, but it wouldn’t be surprising to for USA (White) to give Spencer Knight a shot in net.

Both Canada and the US reduce their rosters to single teams after today, so it’ll be interesting to see who gets left off. Again, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Poehling not named, but Primeau is continuing to raise eyebrows.