Montreal Canadiens: All-Time World Junior Team of Habs Prospects

Montreal Canadiens prospects have had fantastic performances at the World Juniors.

Montreal Canadiens prospects have had some stellar performances at the World Junior Hockey Championships over the years.

The tournament is held every year over the holidays and sees the best teenaged hockey players in the world compete for their country in a bid to win a gold medal.

In its infancy, the event was dominated by the Soviet Union, but Canada has taken over as the most successful team in the tournament over the past 15 years or so. Superstars like Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon playing for your team will help them win gold medals.

Other countries like Finland, Sweden and the United States have won their fair share of medals. We have also seen some big upsets by teams from Switzerland, Slovakia or the Czech Republic as well. No matter what year it is, there always seems to be a handful of Habs players suiting up for their country at the event.

This year, Cole Caufield, Kaiden Guhle and Jan Mysak are the trio of Canadiens prospects taking part in the tournament.

Caufield looked great in his team’s only exhibition game, scoring a pair of goals and creating offence on every shift it seemed. He will play a huge role on a team that has gold medal hopes this year.

Guhle was the Habs first round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. He looks to be more of a depth piece, partnering with fellow first rounder Justin Barron on the team’s third defence pairing. As a big, strong blue liner, Guhle will play decent minutes and punish opponents with his size and strength, shutting things down defensively and playing smart, reliable minutes.

Mysak is playing for an underdog Czech Republic team. They aren’t being picked by many to finish above 5th place, and will need a huge tournament from the Habs second rounder in 2020 if they want any chance at a medal. Mysak was named team captain and is a returnee from last year’s squad so he will play a huge role for the Czech team.

Will any of these players have a tournament like we haven’t seen from a Habs prospect before? Caufield has all the tools to lead the event in goal scoring. If he does, it would be impressive, but would it be the best we have seen from a Habs prospect at this event?

Well, let’s take a look back over the years and pick the All-Habs Prospects All-Star Team in World Junior Championship history.

Left Defence: Alexander Romanov

There is no question Alexander Romanov belongs on this list. The only question is, at which tournament did he play better?

In 2019, he scored one goal and seven assists for eight points in seven games. He played a physical defensive style as well and was counted on in all situations for his team as an 18 year old in a tournament dominated by players a year older. He led the tournament in assists and had the most points by a blue liner.

The Russian was named to the tournament All-Star team and was given the Best Defenceman Award for his efforts in helping Russia to a bronze medal.

The next year, Romanov was stellar again. He scored a goal and six points in seven games at the 2020 World Juniors. He was once again named to the tournament All-Star Team but was not picked as the Best Defenceman. Though he had a couple less points, it could be argued he was even better all-around the second time because of his punishing hits and terrific defensive zone play, helping Russia to a silver medal.

No other Habs prospect has performed better than Romanov’s second best World Juniors. That should tell you how good this young player has been on the international stage.

Right Defenceman: P.K. Subban

P.K. Subban was a second round pick of the Habs back in 2007. Two years later he was playing a starring role for a Canadian team looking to win its fifth straight gold medal at the World Junior Tournament.

The team was led offensively by John Tavares, Jordan Eberle and Cody Hodgson, but also had Subban and Ryan Ellis to provide offence from the blue line.

Subban didn’t disappoint in fulfilling his role as a top pairing offensive defenceman who could be counted on to defend against tough competition as well. Subban finished with nine points in six games, including a goal just 38 seconds into the gold medal game, helping propel Canada to a fifth consecutive gold.

He had the most points by a defenceman in that tournament, and he was named to the tournament All-Star team though he lost out on being named Best Defenceman to Erik Karlsson. Subban was also named one of the top three players on a pretty stacked Canada team.

Goaltender: Carey Price

Carey Price was chosen with the 5th overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft. Though it was a surprising pick at the time, he has proven to be an exceptional goaltender and the Canadiens best player of the past decade by a country mile.

Two years after being drafted, Price was selected to the the starting goaltender for Canada at the 2007 World Juniors. He was in the midst of a season where he would be named the WHL and CHL goaltender of the year, so he had high expectations heading into the tournament.

Price did not disappoint. He played every minute of every game for Canada, allowing just four goals in four round robin games. This was not a team with a plethora of stars. Kris Russell who has been known as a defenceman who can blocks shots and block shots alone at the NHL level, led the 2007 Canada team in goals with four. He was tied with Jonathan Toews who is obviously a great player, but this team went undefeated while counting on Steve Downie and Tom Pyatt to score on the power play.

They didn’t need many goals because they had Carey Price in net. He would be phenomenal in the semi-final game, stopping 34 of 35 shots in the game, including 12 in a ten minute overtime period, and turning aside Peter Mueller in a long shootout to clinch a spot in the gold medal game.

Price would stop 25 of 27 shots in a 4-2 win over Russia in the gold medal game.

Price finished the tournament with a 1.14 goals against average and a .961 save percentage. He was named to the tournament All-Star Team, the Best Goaltender at the event and the Most Valuable Player at the tournament. It was well deserved as he was the backbone of the gold medal winning squad.