The 18-year-old forward was among the final seven players selected to Team North America’s World Cup of Hockey roster Friday.
Advertisement
Seven players were named to the team Friday evening.
Chiarelli added more star power in rounding out the team’s selections, with forwards Jonathan Drouin (Tampa Bay), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton) and Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg), and defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere (Philadelphia), Colton Parayko (St. Louis) and Jacob Trouba (Winnipeg). The eight teams are split into two Groups, Group A and Group B, for the preliminary round (Sept. 17-22), when each team will play its three Group opponents in a round-robin format.
“We will obviously have to review his status with the Players’ Association prior to the start of the tournament in September”, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.
The John Tortorella-coached team filled the final four forward USA spots with Columbus’ Brandon Dubinsky, Toronto’s James van Riemsdyk, Tampa Bay’s Ryan Callahan and St. Louis captain David Backes.
Sweden’s defense also includes Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson, Arizona’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman, Chicago’s Niklas Hjalmarsson and Detroit’s Niklas Kronwall.
Laine, No. 2 on NHL Central Scouting’s final ranking of worldwide skaters, could be one of the top two players chosen in the draft, which will be held June 24-25 at First Niagara Center in Buffalo.
The North American team will consist of USA – and Canadian-born players 23 years and younger, and led by such up-and-coming stars as Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau and Buffalo’s Jack Eichel. In addition to Jaromir Jagr, who retired from the national team after last year’s world championship, Jiri Hudler also failed to make the final cut for the Czech Republic.
Jagr’s omission didn’t come as a surprise.
“We gave him time to decide”, Jandac said about Jagr, who was left off the final 23-man roster announced Friday.
Including Voynov, Russia filled its final four forward spots with KHL players: Evgeny Dadonov, Vadim Shipachyov and Ivan Telegin. The draft is scheduled for June 24-25. A day after helping Pittsburgh qualify for the Stanley Cup Final, Penguins forwards Patric Hornqvist and Carl Hagelin earned spots on the Swedish roster.
Advertisement
The most notable addition to Finland’s roster was forward Patrik Laine.
