Montreal Canadiens: Summer World Juniors Quickly Going From Must-Watch to What If? For Habs Fans

The Montreal Canadiens made a total of 11 picks at the 2022 NHL Draft. It was quite an exciting time for fans of the franchise that is in need of some fresh talent in the coming years, and were fortunate enough to be watching the draft in the Canadiens home rink.

Shortly after the draft, there would be plenty of reasons to be excited about the upcoming 2022 World Juniors tournament that is taking place in August. Usually, the event is held around the holidays in December and early January, but it was postponed due to Covid outbreaks.

It will now be held in Edmonton from August 9th to 20th and for a short period of time it seemed like it would feature a plethora of Canadiens prospects. The ten team event was poised to have prominent Habs prospects on nearly every team.

However, the timing of the event seems to be drastically reducing the number of Canadiens prospects who are going to take part after all. August isn’t the best time for a prominent hockey tournament as it is really the only month hockey players typically take off.

Off the ice that is, as most of them would use the summer time to work out and get into better shape in preparation for the upcoming season. It appears some prominent Habs prospects are going to choose to do just that instead of play in the World Juniors next month.

First overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky and fellow Slovakian first round pick Filip Mesar were both left off their countries roster for the tournament. Instead of the World Juniors being the first time Habs fans can get a close look at their first recent top picks in action, we will have to wait until training camp in September.

Team Canada has not made any official announcements about their team yet, but if Slafkovsky and Mesar are not competing so they can prepare for their pro season, it is likely that Kaiden Guhle will do the same.

It makes sense that Slafkovsky and Guhle would sit out the tournament. To play a high profile event in August, and then begin their first pro seasons in either the AHL or NHL would certainly lead to burnout long before the end of the year. They are both better off using the time in August to train and get ready for NHL training camp.

But Mesar is unlikely to play in the NHL this season and he is also not on his country’s roster. The same can be said for Vinzenz Rohrer, a third round pick from Austria who played in the canceled event in December, and is heading back to the OHL this season and was left off the team. If he isn’t playing for Austria, it would appear the Canadiens don’t want to send any of their prospects to a World Junior tournament in August.

Rosters have not been finalized yet for the tournament, and several Canadiens prospects could still suit up. Lane Hutson, Luke Tuch and Blake Biondi are heading to USA’s camp but all are unlikely to make the team. Oliver Kapanen and Jan Mysak were on initial rosters back in December, but will the Canadiens want Mysak to play this time of year before his first full AHL season?

Seventh round pick Petteri Nurmi and Kapanen are on Finland’s short list and are likely to play. But it is a far cry from what could have been if all eligible Habs prospects were attending.

A tournament featuring Slafkovsky, Guhle, Mesar, Mysak, Kapanen, Rohrer, Nurmi and maybe Hutson or Tuch would have been must watch hockey in August.

But, it is really starting to sound like the Canadiens are encouraging their prospects to sit this one out and focus on their upcoming season. It is going to result in better years for the young players since they won’t be burned out by Christmas, but it will make the summer World Juniors a lot less interesting for Habs fans.

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