Rosters are now pretty much finalized for all 10 teams set to compete at the World Junior Championship.
Elite Prospects has done a nice job of building a hub where it's easy to access all teams' roster information and, presumably, stats once the tournament gets underway. You can find that
here.
For Canucks fans, the two teams to watch are Russia and Sweden.
No surprise, Vasily Podkolzin is now officially named to Team Russia.
As for the Swedes, they released six players today, including defenseman Viktor Persson, the Canucks' seventh-round pick from the 2020 draft.
Sweden is currently one player over this year's expanded 25-man limit. It looks like the extra player is forward Elmer Soderblom, who is marked as injured on the Elite Prospects roster list. Apparently he suffered a
foot injury last week, so perhaps he can still travel with the team while on injured reserve, unlike the players and coaches who test positive for Covid-19 and cannot come to Edmonton.
That list includes Sweden's head coach Tomas Monten and three assistants, as well as winger Albin Grewe, defenseman William Wallinder and centres William Eklund and Karl Henriksson.
Henriksson is normally the center for Sweden's prolific 'Terror Twins,' Lucas Raymond and Alexander Holtz. In his absence during training camp, that job has gone to Theodor Niederbach, the 2020 2nd-round prospect for Detroit — who was selected with that 51st pick that the Canucks dealt to the Kings as part of the Tyler Toffoli deal, and L.A. subsequently flipped on to the Red Wings.
But with Henriksson and Eklund out of the mix, that creates opportunity for Vancouver's 2019 seventh-round pick, Arvid Costmar, who came into camp as a bubble player.
According to the Elite Prospects roster, Costmar is one of just four centers on the club. The others are Niederbach, undrafted 19-year-old Oscar Bjerselius, and 19-year-old Albin Sundsvik, who was drafted in the sixth round by Anaheim in 2020.
With Monten stuck in quarantine, Sweden's U18 coach will be taking over behind the bench in Edmonton. With all their roster challenges, their 52-game unbeaten streak in round-robin play is certainly in jeopardy. Their last round-robin loss came in 2006, in overtime against the U.S. — on a squad that was headlined by Nicklas Backstrom and also included our own Alex Edler. The American group was much deeper, talent-wise, headlined by Phil Kessel, Bobby Ryan, T.J. Oshie, Blake Wheeler, Erik Johnson — and Cory Schneider in net.
Anyway: given Sweden's roster gaps, Costmar should have an opportunity to play a significant role at this year's tournament. The Swedes could have a secret weapon in draft-eligible goalie Jesper Wallstedt, who's being projected as another netminder who could go in the first round in 2021.
Russia's Yaroslav Askarov (11th overall to Nashville in 2020) and USA's Spencer Knight (13th overall to Florida in 2019) will also be in the tournament.
All teams will travel to Edmonton on Sunday. After a period of quarantine, they're each scheduled to play two exhibition games before the tournament begins for real on Christmas Day.
The Covid drama may not be over yet, either. Matt Porter of the
Boston Globe reports that Johnny Beecher came up positive on his final test before the last round of roster cuts for Team USA. He and his roommate Thomas Bordeleau — who both play at the University of Michigan — were left off the roster.
As far as I know, Beecher was training with the U.S. group all this week. I wonder if we'll see more positive tests from the Americans while they're in quarantine in Edmonton?
And while I'm on the subject of Covid and hockey, did you see this article from the
Washington Post from earlier in the week?
Apparently hockey doesn't just carry a higher risk of Covid transmission than football or baseball because it's played indoors. Ice rinks themselves seem to have some sort of characteristic that makes them a friendly incubator for the spread of the virus. Yikes.
After all that, let's wrap up on a lighter note.
I forgot to promo this earlier in the week, but very much enjoyed watching Friday's virtual hot stove luncheon presented by the Canucks Alumni, with Dan Murphy hosting a panel discussion with three of your favourites and mine from 2011: Alex Burrows, Kevin Bieksa and Ryan Kesler.
As you'd expect from those three, the hour-long session featured plenty of laughs — even with some glitchiness in Kesler's and Bieksa's streams.
Lots of talk about pranks and practical jokes, including a lobster in Ryan Kesler's bed and the time Alex Burrows' favourite sweater lost its sleeves.
Burrows is getting ready for a second season as an assistant coach with the AHL's Laval Rocket — although he admitted that there's plenty still to be sorted out as far as how the game schedule will work for Canadian AHL teams like his.
Kesler is home in Michigan, recovering from yet another hip surgery. He admitted that his quality of life had taken a turn for the worse in recent months. He's now hoping that this procedure will make him able to do "normal 36-year-old things," and actually be able to demonstrate drills for his son's team, which he coaches, instead of just drawing them up on the white board.
As for Bieksa, he's currently home in California. He said he had a ton of fun on the Hockey Night in Canada panel during the summer playoffs, and that he found the work offered the type of hockey camaraderie that players often miss after they retire. He also mentioned that what was supposed to be a brief run got longer as the Canucks stayed alive in the postseason, and while he said that he expects to continue commuting between SoCal and Toronto when the new season begins, I'm pretty sure I heard him say something about how things would eventually change "*when* we move back to Canada," rather than *if*. Right now, he's committed to his hockey academy in Orange County, and coaching his son's team.
Having the three of them together made for a terrific dynamic as they told stories from their days with the Manitoba Moose all the way up to last year's big events — Burrows' Ring of Honour induction and the Sedins' jersey retirement ceremony.
With the connectivity issues, I'm not sure if we'll ever see this on YouTube. But it was a ton of fun, and hopefully the alumni will do more of them in the future.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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