Montreal Canadiens Prospects Looking Good at World Junior Showcase

The Montreal Canadiens just finished another busy NHL Draft by adding nine new prospects into the organization.

They drew heavy criticism for using their first round pick to select Logan Mailloux who was convicted of defamation and offensive photography in Sweden for taking a picture of a female during a sexual encounter without her consent and distributing it to his teammates.

On day two of the draft, they were far less controversial while adding eight new players.

One of the most exciting times on the hockey calendar for players in the World Junior Championships in December and January. Last year, Habs fans watched with pride as recent first round picks Kaiden Guhle and Cole Caufield faced off in the gold medal game with Caufield’s USA team coming out on top.

This week, the World Junior Summer Showcase is going on in Plymouth, Michigan. Two teams from the United States are competing with a team from Finland and a team from Sweden in the event this year. Teams will play a total of six games, facing the other team’s twice each, between July 23 and 31.

Of note to Habs fans are recent second round picks Luke Tuch and Oliver Kapanen who are participating in the tournament  this year.

In fact, they faced each other yesterday as Tuch’s USA White team took on Finland.

Early in the game, it was Kapanen who opened the scoring. The Habs second round pick in last weekend’s draft played last season with Kalpa in Finland’s Junior league. He scored 25 goals, leading the league, and 41 points in 37 games. He is a skilled two-way forward who was centering Finland’s third line yesterday.

He finished off a nice feed to the slot by firing a backhand over the goaltender’s shoulder.

Tuch was the Canadiens second round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, and scored six goals and 11 points in 16 games for Boston University last season, his first in college. He plays a physical style and his 6’2″ and 203 pound frame helps with that part of the game.

Tuch was on the team’s top line with Thomas Bordeleau and Mackie Samoskevich. It was Tuch who opened the scoring for USA off a brilliant feed from Bordeleau.

Kapanen and Tuch both have solid chances to make their respective World Junior teams for the 2022 tournament and also join Canadiens prospect Kaiden Guhle at the event. There are no games in the World Junior Showcase today, but both players are back in action tomorrow.