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Team Canada Making World Juniors Cuts Friday Night

By Catherine Silverman

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Team Canada will make cuts for World Juniors after OT loss to Team Russia Friday night

Max Domi continued to impress during Team Canada’s 2-1 OT loss to Team Russia Friday night in preparation of the World Junior Championships alongside Anthony Duclair — but these two weren’t the ones being most carefully watched by the team’s coaching staff.

According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the team will make cuts following the loss — and with Curtis Lazar (on loan from the Ottawa Senators), Nic Petan (captain of the Portland Winterhawks) and Connor McDavid (out with a broken hand) missing from the lineup, the roster will need to get rid of three forwards and a defenseman before the opening puck drop.

It’s likely that McDavid, Petan, and Lazar will provide that extra offensive push that was missing Friday, but the team will need to evaluate everything from defensive prowess and physical play to secondary scorepower and playmaking abilities when determining who will stay and who will go.

According to the National Post, some of the players who might be in danger of getting cut include New York Islanders first-round selection Michael Dal Colle; should Dal Colle miss the mark, it’s doubtful the team’s second first-round pick Joshua Ho-Sang will be able to bite his tongue. The other forward has already expressed his displeasure at being excluded from the preliminary team roster this fall, but Dal Colle’s bottom line minutes might mean he’s about to depart.

Another player in danger of getting cut is 17-year-old Lawson Crouse, who is the youngest player currently on the roster. He’s looking like one of the top prospects for the 2015 NHL entry draft, but he might just not be ready to nab a spot from one of the almost overflowing pack of offensive talents Team Canada has to offer.

The biggest concern, of course, will be in net — although he entered with the clear advantage record-wise, Team Canada netminder Zach Fucale had the weaker save percentage than Team Russia’s Ilya Sorokin. Sorokin, selected in the third round of the 2014 Entry Draft by the New York Islanders, kept his team in the game despite a clear on-ice advantage for Canada to carry over to a win.

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