NHL Draft Radar: Team Canada U18 Projected Roster

by

Guest post by Eldon MacDonald (edited by Chris Ralph)

Connor McDavid
Connor McDavid: 2015 NHL Draft Eligible forward will be relied upon for offense for Team Canada at the 2013 World Junior Hockey Championship. (Aaron Bell/OHL Images)

 

I thought that I would take a stab at projecting Team Canada’s U18 team for the upcoming U18 World Championship, commencing April 18th , 2013 in Sochi, Russia.

First, I reviewed all the CHL teams that missed the playoffs along with all the teams with a reasonable chance of being eliminated in round one. Then, I listed the players that I projected of having a reasonable chance of making Team Canada from those teams. Unfortunately, there weren’t many players left over.

 

Thoughts On The Prospective Squad

This is the typical U18 squad Hockey Canada ices, comprised of players from the bottom 50% of CHL teams. It has a chance of a medal if the team gels and the kids employ a high end work ethic.

 

Goaltending

As usual, the goaltending is really suspect. The main contenders for number one are :

  • Philippe Desrosiers of Rimouski who has not been up to earlier season form lately.
  • Spencer Martin of Mississauga  who is just recovering from injury and allowed 8 goals in his last game.

Beyond these two, there are lots of goalies like there are lots of slot machines.

 

Forwards 

The forwards are reasonable but the main strength lies in the younger 2014 and 2015 NHL draft eligible players:

  • Connor McDavid from Erie
  • Sam Reinhart (Griffin’s brother) from Kootenay
  • Nick Ritchie (Yes, Brett’s brother) from Peterborough

Yes, 2013 NHL draft eligibles Morgan Klimchuk and Fredrik Gauthier can also pot a few, but beyond that things gets pretty sketchy from an offensive output point of view.

 

Defensemen

The strength of the team should be their blueliners. There are three potential first rounders for the 2013 NHL draft:

  • Darnell Nurse from the Soo,
  • Josh Morrissey from Prince Albert and
  • Madison Bowey from Kelowna

 

1995 and Later

By the way, the U18 team is composed of 1995 born and later players. Therefore, many 2013 draft eligible players are not eligible – for instance: Sean Monahan, Ryan Pulock, Emil Poirier.

As well, Team Canada Scout, Kevin Pendergast stated on The Pipeline Show that Team Canada was not considering any non-CHL players for the team.

 

Projected Team Canada U18 Team

Note:

  • *2014 NHL draft eligible
  • ^2015 NHL draft eligible
  • The remaining prospects are 2013 eligible

 

Forwards

Line 1 – Morgan Klimchuk – Sam Reinhart* – Nick Ritchie*

Line 2 – Jason Dickinson – Connor McDavid^ – Nick Moutrey

Line 3 – Yan Pavel Laplante –  Frederik Gauthier – Jackson Houck

Line 4 – Ryan Kujawinski – Laurent Dauphin – Nick Paul

Forward extras: Sam Bennett*, Carter Verhaeghe

 

Defensemen

Pairing 1 – Darnell Nurse – Madison Bowey

Pairing 2 – Josh Morrissey – Jesse Lees

Pairing 3 – Dillon Heatherington – Roland McKeown*

Extra defenseman – Samuel Morin

 

Goalies

Top goalie – Philippe Desrosiers (Has not played up to form lately)

Back-up goalie – Spencer Martin (Will be starter if he regains form)

3rd goalie – Justin Paulic*

 

 

QMJHL – Most Likely Players to be Picked by Team

 

 

Acadie-Bathurst  – Eliminated – None

Cape Breton – Non-playoff team – C – Beaton – R, 6’1, 182 – 68 13 19 32 -32 – 6-Feb-95

Chicoutimi – Eliminated – C – Dauphin – L, 6’0, 166 – 62 25 32 57 +0 – 26-Mar-95

Drummondville – Eliminated – D – Brouillard – L, 5’10, 148 – 68 14 43 57 -21 – 7-Feb-95

Drummondville – Eliminated – G – Guindon – L, 6’0, 167 – 49 1 2.97 .891 (27 15 1)

PEI – Down 3-2 – LW – Laplante – L, 6’0, 172 – 18 5 8 13 +11 – 23-Apr-95

Moncton  – Eliminated – None

Rimouski – Eliminated – G – Desrosiers – R, 6’1, 187 – 43 4 3.07 .900 (22 8 1) – 26-Aug-95

Rimouski – Eliminated – C – Gauthier – L, 6’4, 215 – 62 22 38 60 +22 – 26-Apr-95

Rimouski – Eiminated – D – Morin – L, 6’6, 203 – 46 4 12 16 +10 – 12-Jul-95

Saint John  – Eliminated – None

Shawinigan  – Non-playoff team – None

Sherbrooke  – Non-playoff team – None

 

OHL – Most Likely Players to be Picked by Team 

 

 

Belleville  –Up 3 –2 – G – Graham – L, 6,0, 173 – 25 3 2.59 922 (15 5 1) – 30-Jun-95

Belleville – Up 3-2 – D – Subban, R, 5’9, 177 – 68 15 36 51 +22 – 3-Mar-95

Brampton – Eliminated – LW – Paul L, 6’2, 202 – 66 12 16 28 +6 –20 – Mar-95

Erie – Non-playoff team – LW – Harper – L, 6’2, 200 – 67 18 20 38 -38 – 25-Mar-95

Erie – Non-playoff team – C – McDavid – L, 5,11, 175 – 63 25 41 66 -24 – 13-Mar-97

Guelph – Eliminated – LW – Dickinson – L, 6,2, 176 – 66 18 29 47 +19 – 4-Jul-95

Kingston – Non-playoff team – C – Bennett – L, 6’0, 168 – 60 18 22 40 -2 – 20-Jun-96

Kingston – Non-playoff team – LW – Kujawinski – L, 6,2, 205 – 66 17 31 48 – 30-Mar-95

Kingston – Non-playoff team – D – McKeown – R, 6’1, 186 – 61 7 22 29 -24 – 20-Jan-96

Mississauga – Down 3-2 – G – Martin – R, 6’2, 192 – 46, 4, 3.02, .906 (17 21 0) – 8-Jun-95

Niagara Falls – Eliminated – C – Verhaeghe – L, 6’1, 181 – 67 18 26 44 -12 – 14-Aug-95

Ottawa – Non-playoff team – None

Peterborough – Non-playoff team – LW – Ritchie – L, 6’2, 218 – 41 18 17 35 -10 – 5-Dec-95

Saginaw – Eliminated – RW – Moutrey – L, 6’3, 208 – 65 16 27 43 +2

Sarnia – Eliminated – None

Sault Ste. Marie – Down 3 to 2 – D – Nurse, L, 6’5, 192 – 68 12 29 41 +15 – 4-Feb-95

Windsor – Non-playoff team – G – DeKort – R, 6’4, 192 – 25 2 4.34 .883 (3 11 1) – 8-Aug-95

 

 

WHL – Most Likely Players to be Picked by Team

 

Brandon – Non-playoff team – None

Everett – Down 3 to 2 – G – Lotz – 42 1 3.37 .907 (15 19 3) – 27-May95

Kelowna – Down 3 to 2 – D – Bowey, R, 6’1, 194 – 69 12 18 30 +41 – 22-Apr-95

Kelowna – Down 3 to 2 – D – Lees – R, 6’0, 180 – 66 12 18 30 +37– 14-Sep-95

Kootenay – Eliminated – C – Reinhart – R, 6’0, 182 – 72 35 50 85 +8 – 6-Nov-95

Lethbridge – Non-playoff team – D – Pilon, L, 6’2, 197 – 57 5 23 28 +0 – 10-Oct-96

Moose Jaw – Non-playoff team – G – Paulic – R, 6’1, 188 – 57, 1, 3.15, .899 – 7-Oct-95

Prince Albert – Eliminated – D – Morrissey – L, 6’0, 185 – 70 15 32 47 +14 – 28-Mar-95

Prince George – Non-playoff team – None

Regina – Non-playoff team – D – Burroughs – R, 5’11, 175 – 70 5 28 33 -8 – 12-Jul-95

Regina – Non-playoff team – LW – Klimchuk – L, 5’11, 180 – 72 36 40 76 -1 – 2 – Mar-95

Saskatoon – Eliminated – None

Swift Current – Eliminated – D – Heatherington – L, 6’4, 196 – 71 4 23 27 +25 – 9-May-95

Tri-City – Eliminated – None

Vancouver – Eliminated – RW – Houck – R, 6’0, 184 – 69 23 34 57 -16 – 27-Feb-95

 

 

Even with the limitations in terms of prospects availability to Hockey Canada for the spring under 18 World Junior Championship, the tournament in Sochi will still be an interesting one from a scouting perspective. It will also be a preview of some of the potential venues for the 2014 Winter Olympics hockey events.