Montreal Canadiens Have Four Prospects Trying Out For World Juniors Today

The Montreal Canadiens have four prospects attending the World Junior Summer Showcase this week. All four of them will be in action today.

The Montreal Canadiens are well represented at the World Junior Summer Showcase this week. This event is an annual tune up for the World Junior Hockey Championships that take place during the holidays every year.

Initially, the Canadiens had seven of their players invited to attend the summer event. Jayden Struble from the United States, Mattias Norlinder of Sweden and Cole Fonstad, a Canadian were forced to miss the tournament due to injury.

That still leaves Jordan Harris and Cole Caufield trying out for the United States, Allan McShane suiting up for Canada and Jacob Olofsson playing for the Swedish squad. All four of the players will be playing later today.

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First off, Canada, with McShane will take on Finland. Finland won the tournament last season with help from Canadiens prospect Jesse Ylonen. The Finnish prospect won’t be back at this event as he will turn 20 before the end of the year and is too old to suit up at the World Juniors again.

McShane played a depth role as the 13th forward in Canada’s first game yesterday against the Americans. Canada won the game 4-1, but Habs Caufield scored a beautiful goal on the power play for USA.

Canada and Finland will play at 1:00 P.M. Eastern and the game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada and on the NHL Network in the United States.

Caufield will have another chance to show off his elite goal scoring skills this afternoon. USA takes on Sweden at 4:00 P.M. Eastern and there will be three Habs prospects taking part in this contest.

Jordan Harris did not play yesterday against Canada, but started the camp playing the right side on a pairing with K’Andre Miller. Miller was a first round pick by the New York Rangers and is one of the few returning members of the silver medal winning team from last year.

Harris was a third round pick by the Habs in 2018, but played well in his first season with the Northeastern Huskies. He is a left shooting defender but has the versatility to play both sides of the ice. If he can remain on a pairing with Miller, he will be seeing plenty of ice time at the tournament.

Caufield will also be suiting up for the Americans and he is the crown jewel of the Canadiens excellent farm system. He is one of the best goal scoring prospects to come along in many years and should be a force at Wisconsin even as a freshman next season. He has an excellent chance of making the American roster and playing a role in their top six as well as being their go-to-guy on the power play.

Harris and Caufield will be taking on Olofsson who is playing for Sweden. The two-way centre was taken by the Canadiens in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft and played last season in the Swedish Hockey League with Timra. He scored just nine points in 34 games, but SHL is a low scoring league that teenagers typically don’t dominate.

Olofsson is a returning member of the World Juniors for Sweden so he is certain to make the team and will likely play a top six centre role for them. Look for him to play against other teams top lines (Caufield) and also be able to chip in some scoring.

There won’t be quite the same intensity today that you will see at the World Juniors in December. However, if you are looking for a hockey fix at the midpoint of summer, watching some of the Montreal Canadiens best prospects tryout for their respective countries will definitely work.