NEWSLETTER
Remember over the summer when it felt weird that the World Junior Championship tournament was taking place? And we joked about how soon it would be back because December wasn’t that far away? Well, those weeks/months have flown off the calendar and here we are, back in WJC season.
The 2023 World Junior Championship tournament will be played in Canada beginning Monday, Dec. 26 and running through the championship game on Thursday, Jan. 5.
The Blackhawks influx of high draft picks at the 2022 NHL Draft opened the door for more potential participation from Chicago prospects. When the preliminary camp rosters were announced for the USA and Canada on Monday afternoon, there were a few surprises but none that impacted Blackhawks fans. And there could be a handful of reasons for Blackhawks fans to be excited about Canada in this tournament.
Again, these are the preliminary rosters of the camps to determine the final rosters for the tournament. They are not the final rosters. And players who get cut from the camp can get a late invite because of injury, as was the case with one Blackhawks prospect this summer.
Canada
The Blackhawks have one player returning to the World Juniors for Canada after appearing in the COVID-delayed 2022 tournament that took place late this past summer. Defenseman Ethan Del Mastro, who was added to Canada’s roster late because of an injury, is back on the roster. He’s the captain for Mississauga this season (his second wearing the “C”) and should play a prominent role for Canada in this tournament.
Del Mastro will be joined by four (4) additional Blackhawks prospects in Canada’s camp, which is a terrific number. Defensemen Kevin Korchinski and Nolan Allan — now teammates with Seattle (WHL) and the Blackhawks’ first picks in the last two drafts — both received an invite. As did forwards Colton Dach and Ryan Greene.
There are two 2023 NHL Draft eligible skaters attending Canada’s camp: Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli. They might hear their names called in that order at the draft next summer.
Earlier this year when the camp for Canada opened up before the re-started tournament, they invited 88 players to work out with an eye on seeing a big enough number to consider some for this tournament in December as well as the summer edition. The Blackhawks had four prospects at the summer camp with Canada: Del Mastro, Korchinski, Dach and Paul Ludwinski.
USA
With forward Frank Nazar out of the lineup the entire season at the University of Michigan, it was clear he wasn’t going to play for the US this tournament. Which sucks, because he could have been a key player for the American squad. The US roster does not include a Blackhawks draft choice, though a few names on the roster might be of interest as we get closer to the 2023 NHL Draft.
A couple of the players in the US camp that I’ll be watching with an eye for next summer’s draft are forwards Will Smith, Charlie Stramel and Ryan Leonard. There are five members of the University of Michigan’s team invited to the US camp — and that doesn’t include Adam Fantilli, who will join Canada for their camp.
