Montreal Canadiens Cole Fonstad To Miss World Junior Summer Showcase
The Montreal Canadiens prospect Cole Fonstad was invited to join Canada at the World Junior Summer Showcase this week, but will miss the event.
The Montreal Canadiens focused on skill and speed at the last few NHL Drafts, finally shifting their focus from taking big, physical prospects late in the draft and hoping they would learn how to play hockey down the road.
In the 2018 NHL Draft, one of the highly skilled players they took later on was Cole Fonstad. The shifty, playmaker mostly played left wing for the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League. He scored 21 goals and 73 points in 72 games in the 2017-18 season.
Even though he was a point per game player, Fonstad fell to the 5th round of the draft. The Canadiens selected him with the 128th selection, taking a chance on a slightly undersized kid who showed some offensive potential.
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The Estevan, Saskatchewan native had another solid season for the Raiders after being drafted. He started slowly on a very deep team that was often ranked number one in Canada throughout the season, but quickly turned on the jets.
Once again, Fonstad would finish the season with 73 points, this time in 67 games and raised his goal total to 29. He was injured late in the season and though he continued to play, it certainly affected his stats in the postseason.
Fonstad scored just six points in 21 playoff games as the Raiders marched to a WHL Championship. He did however, score three points in three games at the Memorial Cup, but it was a bit of a disappointing playoffs for Fonstad.
The Canadiens prospect did do enough to earn an invitation to the World Junior Summer Showcase. The event starts on Friday and is a tune up for the World Juniors in December with teams from Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden.
It was announced last night however, that Fonstad will not be going to the event. He is still feeling the effects of his injury and will rest up in preparation for next season with the Raiders.
Even getting an invitation to tryout for Canada’s World Junior team shows the Canadiens were onto something when they took Fonstad in the 5th round. Most players at this event are former first or second round picks, but the Habs once again found value late in the draft.
Still, the Canadiens will be well represented at the event in Plymouth, Michigan. Allan McShane will be there for Canada, Jordan Harris and Cole Caufield will be suiting up for the United States and Jacob Olofsson, an intriguing prospect will be there for Sweden. Mattias Norlinder and Jayden Struble have also been forced to sit out due to injury.
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The first game will be on Friday, July 26th and the tournament runs until August 3rd. It will be a fun showcase of some top prospects in the middle of summer. You can be sure to hear about how all of the prospects are performing right here at A Winning Habit.