Montreal Canadiens: Four Prospects In Action At World Juniors Today

The Montreal Canadiens have four prospects in the World Junior Hockey Championships that begin today. All four players will be in action on the opening fay of the annual tournament.

The Montreal Canadiens are sending four of their best prospects to the World Junior Hockey Championships this year. All four of them begin the event with games today on the opening day of the championship.

Alexander Romanov was named the top defenceman at the tournament last year and he is back once again looking to help Russia win gold. They took home bronze last year, and once again have a team capable of competing for a medal. With the tournament taking place in the Czech Republic, the Russians may have a bit of an edge on the North American teams based on reduced travel and being more accustomed to the time zone.

Russia start off the event with a game against the host team. Though there will be a lot of support in the stand for the Czech team, the Russians are a powerhouse in this event and the host team is not. The puck drops on that game at 9:00 AM Eastern time. Watch for Romanov to dominate at both ends of the ice throughout the tournament. He had a goal and two assists in his final exhibition game earlier this week and looks ready to defend his top defenceman award.

That game will be broadcast on TSN 4 and 5.

More from Prospects

• Montreal Canadiens: What Does Nathan Legare Bring To The Habs?
• Montreal Canadiens: What To Expect From Luke Mittelstadt Next Season?
• Montreal Canadiens: Looking ahead to Juraj Slafkovsky’s sophomore season
• Montreal Canadiens – Kaiden Guhle Rookie Report Card
• Montreal Canadiens: Jordan Harris Rookie Report Card

Later in the day, the other three Habs prospects hit the ice. Cole Caufield and Jordan Harris will be playing big roles in a huge game for the United States on the first day of the event. When USA and Canada are in the same pool in this tournament, it has been tradition that they play on New Year’s Eve. That’s not the case this year as the two gold medal hopefuls go head-to-head on opening day.

Caufield looks like he will be playing on the second line with Jack Drury and John Beecher. Beecher was a late first round pick by the Boston Bruins last year and Drury was taken in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes. Drury has ten points in ten games for Harvard this season and Beecher is an enormous, physical winger who has nine points in 16 games for Michigan.

Caufield will also play a huge role on the team’s power play. He has an Ovechkin-like one-timer from the left side on the man advantage that is heavy, hard and accurate. He scored four goals and added an assist in the team’s last tune-up game against Germany on Monday and could lead the tournament in goal scoring if everything goes right.

Harris is a left shot defender who is playing on the right side for USA. They are low on right shot defensemen and hence, Harris has an opportunity on the top pairing today. He is partnered with captain Mattias Samuelsson and they will play huge minutes against a difficult opponent in their first real game together.

Look for Harris to play smart, positional defence and be able to move the puck up ice with his skating and passing skills. He will play a ton of minutes in all situations. The USA-Canada game starts at 1:00 PM Eastern time and will be broadcast on TSN 1/4/5.

While the Americans and playing Canada, Sweden will take on Finland in another great matchup on opening day on TSN 3. Of note in that game for Habs fans is defenceman Mattias Norlinder suiting up for Sweden.

He was a bit of a surprise addition to the team. Sweden have a number of first round picks to choose from for their defence, but Norlinder, a third round pick last June cracked the list. He has been playing well for Modo in Allsvenskan which is the second best pro league in Sweden. Norlinder his a terrific skater who scored six goals and 14 points in 28 games thus far for Modo.

Norlinder being included on this team shows how far he has come from being completely passed over in the 2018 NHL Draft. With the like of Rasmus Sandin, Phillip Broberg, Adam Ginning, Victor Soderstrom and Tobias Bjornfot on the roster, it is going to be difficult for Norlinder to get a ton of ice time. He will likely start on the third pairing or possibly even as the seventh defenceman.

Still, it will be interesting to watch where Norlinder starts the game, and what his role is by the end of the night. Line combinations and defence pairings are always in flux early in this tournament, so a good start could see Norlinder bumped up the depth chart.

All four of the Habs prospects will be playing for teams that are gunning for gold. Romanov and Caufield have the skills to be superstars at this event and watching them dominate is going to be fun for Habs fans. Don’t forget to keep an eye on Harris and Norlinder too. They aren’t as flashy as Caufield, but both are smooth skating, smart defenders whose games could translate very well to the National Hockey League level in the near future.