Scout’s Analysis: Notes from Team Canada's world junior training camp

Team Canada’s world junior hockey championship roster is nearly set following a four-day training camp in Oakville, Ont. The group now departs for Europe with 22 players in tow.

There is one roster spot left to fill. The management group has the flexibility to add a player who is released by his NHL club, or recalling one of their final cuts from the camp. Zach Benson (Buffalo Sabres) and Matthew Poitras (Boston Bruins) are among the candidates for the final roster spot.

Here’s some of my observations from training camp and projected roles for some players for Team Canada:

Meet the team

• Team Canada is being represented by eight players from the WHL, seven from the QMJHL, five from the OHL, and two from the NCAA ranks.

• There are 10 first-round NHL picks on the roster, six second-rounders, one third, one fifth and four draft-eligible prospects.

• The draft eligible prospects include Macklin Celebrini (Boston University, NCAA), who is the top-ranked player for the NHL Draft in 2024.

• Other draft eligible prospects include goaltenders Mathis Rousseau (Halifax, QMJHL) and Samuel St-Hilaire (Sherbrooke, QMJHL).

• The final draft-eligible player is forward Owen Allard from the Soo Greyhounds (OHL)

• Team Canada will ice a team with nine players who stand six feet or smaller. They have nine players at six-foot-one or six-foot-two. Four players are six-foot-three or taller.

• The team will dress two giants on defence. Maveric Lamoureux (Drummondville, QMJHL) is a right-shot who is listed at six-foot-seven, 214 pounds. Noah Warren (Victoriaville, QMJHL) is also a right-shot defender who’s listed at six-foot-six, 225 pounds.

Goaltending

The three goaltenders named to the roster have limited experience on the national stage.

Scott Ratzlaff (Seattle, WHL) did suit up for Team Canada’s U18 team at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, at the tournament in Red Deer, Alta. in the summer of 2022. He won all four of his starts and posted a .976 save percentage and 0.50 goals-against average. Both Rousseau and St-Hilaire are rookies with the national team.

Each goaltender brings a different look and style with their game:

• St-Hilaire is the biggest of the three (six-foot-two, 184 pounds). He leans butterfly/athletic with his style. He has good feet and strong lateral quickness. Of the three, he has the best blocker hand. He made several big stops, with his blocker, in Wednesday’s game vs the U Sports all-stars. Timing is key with St-Hilaire. There are moments he is dropping into his butterfly a shade late, leaving him exposed down low and between his legs. His focus and determination is clear, however, and he’s athletic enough to regroup and make high danger stops when rebounds spill off him into scoring areas.

• Ratzlaff is only listed at six-foot-one, 175 pounds, but he has a stocky look to him in the net. He’s a butterfly goalie who has good range moving side to side. He’s very flexible. Ratzlaff tends to play deeper in his net after kicking out the initial shot on goal. He was impressive Wednesday, making a breakaway stop in the opening minutes, and a couple lateral “desperation” stretch saves moving to his right.

• I don’t know this for fact, but it’s my opinion that Rousseau will be the starting goalie for Canada. He posted a shutout in his half game on Wednesday. The look of his game is oozing confidence. He’s the smallest of the three goalies, listed at five-foot-11, 172 pounds, but he fronts the play very well. He’s quick moving side to side and sits tall in his butterfly when down making stops. It’s key for smaller goalies to make sure they don’t wander outside their posts. It can lead to issues tracking back to the other side due to their smaller frame. Rousseau is very efficient. He almost never gets outside the posts, which is part of the reason he fronts the shooter as well as he does.

Forwards

Canada will ice a range of skill at the forward position. The mix will include some scorers with speed off the rush, and others who will provide checking roles and a heavy net-front presence in the offensive zone.

• Celebrini was dynamic at the training camp. He plays the game quick and fast. He can be a threat off the rush, has net drive when a lane opens up, and rips pucks from the weak side flank on the power play. He will be asked to produce offensively, but don’t discount his hockey sense and ability to take key defensive zone face offs and win battles. His compete level is off the charts in all three zones.

• Jordan Dumais (Halifax, QMJHL) breaks camp dealing with a bit of a hip flexor issue. He clearly wasn’t himself on Wednesday. He did have an assist, via a neutral zone give-and-go on a Celebrini goal, but was otherwise quiet and held back by the coaching staff. Dumais is a dynamic scorer who will be counted on to play to his identity, especially on the power play.

• Owen Beck (Peterborough, OHL) will be called upon to provide leadership and shut down opponents' top lines. Beck is especially proficient in the faceoff circle. He wins draws on both sides of the ice. Starting with the puck, especially in the defensive zone when on the penalty kill, is even more important on the larger ice surface in Europe. Beck’s a two-way forward who also chips in with better than secondary offense. He’s the only returning player from last year’s team in Halifax.

• Matthew Wood (UConn, NCAA) played to his identity at the camp. He isn’t the player Canada values off the rush in transition. His best work comes below the hash marks and around the crease. He’s a big body (six-foot-three, 190 pounds) who’s difficult to push off pucks along the boards. He extends plays and finds “quiet ice” in the offensive zone. His catch and release is elite. Canada will be looking for Wood to score timely goals at the tournament.

• Connor Geekie (Wenatchee, WHL), Fraser Minten (Saskatoon, WHL), and Matthew Savoie (Wenatchee, WHL) are three players who will be tasked with providing offence, detail, and relentless compete. All three have proven they can score at the major-junior level. Minten is very likely to roll over the boards as one of the top penalty killers for Team Canada. Geekie and Savoie will land on one of the team’s power-play units.

• Carson Rehkopf (Kitchener, OHL) leads the OHL in points (55) and goals (31). His game has come a long way. As long as he contributes at least average defensive detail, he should be given a role in Canada’s top-six forward group and one of the power-play units. If he isn’t scoring, his overall detail will have to continue to go to another level. It was clear, to me, he was trying to focus on identifying his defensive-zone coverage responsibilities at this camp. It looks like Canada will employ a man vs. man defensive-zone strategy.

• The rest of the forward group brings a range of skill and will to the team. Players like Easton Cowan (London, OHL), Brayden Yager (Moose Jaw, WHL), Owen Allard (Soo, OHL) and Nate Danielson (Brandon, WHL) might be asked to play out of position – possibly the wing instead of centre for example – but they all play with energy and attention to detail in all three zones. Yager and Danielson could end up chipping in more offence, while Cowan and Allard should provide energy and relentless pushback in the hard areas of the ice.

Defencemen

Team Canada’s management group has selected a wide range of skill and size assembling their D-core. There’s an interesting mix of transitional, two-way, and stay--at-home defencemen on the roster.

• As mentioned previously, Canada will ice two of the biggest defenceman in the entire tournament in Lamoureux and Warren.

Look for Lamoureux to skate in Canada’s top two pairings. He brings a mix of length, above-average skating, and offence to the roster. Lamoureux is a two-way defenceman who can be used in all situations.

Warren will be used in more of a shut-down/match-up role. He is at his best when he gaps up “on time” and takes away space in the middle of the ice in his zone. Warren could end up contributing a key role on the Canadian penalty kill. He’s a low-risk option with the puck on his stick. Any offence that Warren provides should be considered a bonus.

• Denton Mateychuk (Moose Jaw, WHL) and Tanner Molendyck (Saskatoon, WHL) could end up quarterbacking two different power-play units. Both are efficient distributors in the offensive zone.

Mateychuk’s overall game is less hectic, but more structured than Molendyck's. Molendyck always seems to be in motion, trying to anticipate how a play is developing.

The bulk of Team Canada’s offence from their defence could come from both these players.

• The “glue guys” on the Canadian defence will be Oliver Bonk (London, OHL), Tristan Luneau (Gatineau, QMJHL) and Jake Furlong (Halifax, QMJHL). Two of these players could end up paired together defensively. They are capable of skating pucks out of trouble and launching the attack. They also have the kind of skill set that can produce secondary offense -- especially Luneau and Bonk.

Luneau has pro experience. He dressed for seven games with the Anaheim Ducks this season, recording one goal and two assists. In his six-game stint in the AHL with San Diego, he chipped in two assists.

Outlook

There’s no easy way to say it. Team Canada is in tough this year.

Team USA is loaded. The Americans do not have any weaknesses in their lineup.

Team Sweden has been building towards this tournament as the host nation. Their lineup is also flush with high-end talent in all corners of the roster.

If Canada is going to medal this year, the goaltenders will have to steal a game or two along the way. Beyond that, their entire team will have to play with relentless compete, run hot on the power play and do whatever it takes to keep the puck out of their net on the penalty kill.