Free washer | Only one hope from CH at the World Juniors: nothing to panic about

Rasmus Bergqvist will be under pressure, poor guy. He will be the only representative of the Canadian organization at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Raise your hands those who, this morning, hear this name for the first time…

This left-handed defender was the last choice of the Canadian in the last draft, at 224^e rank. The CH drafted him at 19, after he was passed over in his first year of eligibility in 2023. Even though he played 21 games in the Swedish Number One League (SHL) before being demoted In the junior ranks recently, Bergqvist is likely to play a role as a seventh defenseman during the tournament.

Only one hope from the Canadian or less at this World Junior Championship, that was not seen in the 21st^e century. One might even wonder if this has ever happened in the modern era. But this state of affairs does not mean a shortage of hopes for the Canadian, obviously.

The team’s first pick in 2024, at fifth overall, Ivan Demidov, is Russian, and that war-torn country is banned from the tournament. The team’s first overall pick in 2023, also fifth overall, David Reinbacher, was born in October 2004, so just turned 20, and is no longer eligible for the tournament. His country, Austria, is not participating anyway.

The other first-round pick of the last two years, at 21^e rank in 2024, Michael Hage, was dismissed by the Canadian team – despite his 18 points in 15 games at the University of Michigan – like most of the 18-year-old players of his vintage. Beckett Sennecke, at 3^e choice rank, Tij Iginla (6^e), defensemen Carter Yakemchuk (7^e) and Zayne Parekh (9^e) and center Sacha Boisvert (18^e) were also ignored.

The Canadian’s best prospect in goal, Jacob Fowler, finds himself in a situation similar to that of David Reinbacher. He was born in November, so just turned 20. He was in the tournament last year, and shone there.

The paradox is therefore significant. The CH has never had so many quality prospects in recent decades, including young people aged 23 or under already in training, but has never been so poorly represented at this World Junior Championship.

But the amount of hopefuls at this Championship doesn’t matter. The Canadian had six representatives in 2012: Sven Andrighetto, Sebastian Collberg, Nathan Beaulieu, Daniel Prybil, Jarred Tinordi and Brendan Gallagher. How many helped the team afterwards? Just one, Gallagher.

Same scenario the following year. Andrighetto was back for Switzerland and Collberg for Sweden, joined by Jacob de la Rose, Artturi Lehkonen, Martin Reway and Alex Galchenyuk. Lehkonen has become a solid NHL player. Galchenyuk was the stuff of dreams for a few seasons before seeing his career derailed.

There were eight in 2019, a record: Ryan Poehling and Cayden Primeau (United States), Alexander Romanov (Russia), Nick Suzuki and Josh Brook (Canada), Jacob Olofsson (Sweden), Jesse Ylönen and Joni Ikonen (Finland).

We allowed ourselves to dream for a while, especially with the performances of Poehling, named the tournament’s MVP, the domination of Primeau and the title of defender par excellence granted to Romanov.

Poehling was dumped in Pittsburgh a few years later without the Canadian getting anything in return. He has found a niche at center on the fourth line in Philadelphia. Romanov has retained a good value. He was traded to the Islanders for the 13th^e choice, then passed to the Blackhawks for Kirby Dach. He is not responsible for his setbacks and continues his career within the top 4 des Islanders.

Three of these eight players, Olofsson, Brook and Ikonen (injured at the dawn of the tournament) have not played a single game in the NHL. Ylönen survived on the fourth line in Montreal last year. He is playing in the American League this season, at age 25, in the Lightning organization.

Ironically, the best of the lot was Suzuki, yet limited to an obscure role on the wing within the Canadian team. Morgan Frost, Maxime Comtois, Cody Glass and Brett Leason spearheaded the attack. Like what…

In the absence of Demidov, Hage, Fowler or Reinbacher, fans will therefore be able to fall back on some of the best candidates for the 2025 draft: American center James Hagens, Canadian defenseman Matthew Schaeffer, his teammate, power winger Porter Martone, or the American right-handed defender Logan Hensler.