Montreal Canadiens: Which Prospects Will We See At World Juniors?

The Montreal Canadiens have a great group of prospects. They will be on full display at this year’s edition of the World Junior Hockey Championships next month.

The Montreal Canadiens have been well represented at the World Junior Hockey Championships the past few years. Last year may have been the best showing from the Habs prospects at the annual tournament in many years. They had players winning medals of every colour and many Habs prospects won individual awards as well.

Jesse Ylonen was a second round pick of the Habs in 2018 and he won gold with Finland, scoring six points in seven games along the way. Ryan Poehling starred for the United States, scoring five goals and three assists for eight points and winning the MVP for his exceptional two-way play throughout the tournament.

Poehling won a silver medal, losing to Ylonen’s Finland team in the final game. Cayden Primeau was in goal for the Americans and put up spectacular numbers en route to that silver medal.

Alexander Romanov was playing defence for Russia and won a bronze medal after losing to Primeau and Poehling in the semi-final. Romanov was dominant at both ends of the ice for the Russians, scoring a goal and seven assists for eight points and winning the tournament’s top defenceman award.

Ylonen, Primeau and Poehling are too old for the tournament this season but Romanov will be back for Russia. There will be another crop of young players in the Canadiens system joining Romanov this year. Who are they?

Let’s take a look at the players that could very well be representing the Canadiens at this year’s World Juniors which starts in just under one month.

Jacob Olofsson and Mattias Norlinder

Jacob Olofsson was a depth player for the Swede’s at last year’s tournament. He played five games for Sweden but did not register a point. Sweden once again went undefeated in the regular portion of the tournament but lost to Switzerland in the quarterfinal.

They will be looking for a better result and will need a big tournament from Olofsson to help them up front. Sweden will have a plethora of wingers aren’t quite as deep at center. Expect Olofsson to be a lock to make the team and probably play in all situations including a top six role with great line mates that are expected to score.

Sweden has won 48 straight games in the round robin portion of the event which is incredible. They have a really great chance to extend that streak as they won’t have to face Canada, Russia or the United States in the round robin as they are all in the other group.

Sweden will have a stacked group of defensemen to lead them at this year’s event. Rasmus Sandin, Adam Boqvist and Tobias Bjornfot were all first round picks and played NHL games this season. They have all been sent down since then and will be available for Sweden. They also have Philip Broberg, Victor Soderstrom, Adam Ginning and Filip Johansson who were all first round picks.

This is going to make it difficult for Habs prospect Mattias Norlinder to make the team. He is an exciting 18 year old offensive defenceman who is playing for Modo in Allsvenskan which is basically the AHL of Sweden. He is a terrific skater and has six goals and six assists in 22 games. He was taken in the third round of last year’s draft but will probably be just on the outside looking in when the roster is announced for Sweden.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

The Montreal Canadiens drafted Jesperi Kotkaniemi third overall in the 2018 NHL Draft. The idea at the time was to allow the young, slender Finnish forward to develop at home for a year or maybe two and then bring him to North America and see where he is at and slowly work him into the Canadiens lineup.

That plan changed pretty quickly when he showed up and played extremely well at the Habs 2018 training camp. He made the team and scored 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points as an 18 year old freshman in the National Hockey League. There was little consideration put into sending him to last year’s tournament as the Habs needed him on their roster.

Finland won the tournament anyway. This year, it seems unlikely that Finland will be able to repeat. Unless of course, Kotkaniemi is sent there to play for his home country. Would the Habs really consider this after he played a year and a half in the NHL?

I’ll admit it is unlikely. However, Kotkaniemi is struggling this season to the tune of just two goals scored in early October and one assist in 16 games played. If the Habs sent him to the World Juniors it would open up a center ice spot for Nick Suzuki to make a lengthy audition at the position to see if he produces even more as a center.

It would definitely be changing the plans for their 19 year old center, but it could give Kotkaniemi a big boost of confidence which he sorely needs and would give Suzuki the chance to play his natural position for a while to see if he fits there better than on the wing.

I would call the chances of this happening remote, but with the benefit it could bring to both Kotkaniemi and Suzuki’s game long term, the Canadiens management team have to at least discuss the possibility.

Alexander Romanov

The Canadiens selected an unknown commodity with the 38th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. Alexander Romanov was not ranked anywhere near where he was elected and many Habs fans were wondering who exactly the Habs took with that early second round pick.

Since then, he has done everything you could imagine to make a name for himself around Montreal for a teenager that lives in Russia. He cracked a KHL roster as an 18 year old defenceman which is unheard of, he then went to the World Juniors and won the top defenceman award even though he was an underager at the event.

Romanov will now head back to that event again this season and look to improve upon his eight points in seven games and dominant two-way play. No one has won back to back top defenceman awards since Slava Fetisov back in the late 1970’s so Romanov has a chance to make some history at the World Juniors this year.

The chances of him making the team are 100%, even for Russia who have a history of head-scratching decisions when it comes to selecting roster for international events. The only question is whether he can be even better than he was last year.

Cole Caufield, Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble

The Americans had a successful tournament last year going all the way to the gold medal game before falling to Finland on a very late goal by Kaapo Kakko. They were led by huge performances from Ryan Poehling and Cayden Primeau, both of whom are now playing for the Laval Rocket and are too old for the event again this year.

However, there are still three young Habs prospects who are going to be in consideration for this roster. It will be difficult for anyone to match the production from Poehling, but if anyone can step into that role for the American’s it will be Cole Caufield.

Caufield was the Habs first round pick, 15th overall at the 2019 NHL Draft. He has done nothing but score goals everywhere he has been. He set records coming up through the United States National Development Team Program. He is producing at over a point per game pace as a freshman with Wisconsin this season and is an absolute lock to earn a top six role and first power play unit spot for the Americans.

There could be a pair of defenders joining him that are Habs prospects as well, though Jordan Harris is much closer to a sure thing than Jayden Struble.

Harris was a third round pick of the Habs in 2018 and has taken over as the top defender for the Northeastern Huskies. Harris had 13 points in 39 games last season but has 11 already in 14 NCAA games this year. The 19 year old is proving to be a great pick at 71st overall a year and a half ago.

I wouldn’t consider Harris a lock to make the American team, because he will likely fall behind K’Andre Miller, Mattias Samuelsson, Bode Wilde and Cam York on the depth chart. However, I would say it is very likely he starts the tournament on a third pairing role for USA.

Jayden Struble was also invited to the World Junior Summer Showcase but was unable to participate due to injury. Still, it clearly shows he is on the short list for the Americans. Struble was a second round pick by the Habs in the 2019 NHL Draft. Though he is likely to play a big role for USA at the 2021 World Juniors, he will probably be one of the last cuts this year.