2021 World Juniors - Flames prospects

[cross16]

Starting this with the news that Zary and Pelletier were both invited to Team Canada's camp next month. I think Zary has a good shot but in looking at the list I think Pelletier might be in tough. I think both make a lot of sense in 3rd line roles for Canada as this year's crop is a bit weaker in that area but we shall see.  Edit: after i started this I see that the Hawks have loaned Dach to Team Canada and that will make it pretty tough to see Zary make the team and even if he does it will be a 4th line role. 

 

This is the last year of eligibility for both of them. 

 

 

For other nations:

 

Wolf and Josh Nodler are on the radar. Wolf would likely be a lock and Nodler a solid bet I would think. 

 

Russia, all of Ilya Nikolaev, Yan Kuznetsov and Chechelev are eligible. Nikolaev was on the radar in the summer but was not on the latest U20 team. Kuznetsov and Chechlev seem like wild cards but with expanded rosters it's possible. 

 

Lucas Fuek is eligible for Sweden but does not seem to be on the radar. 

 

 

[jjgallow]

Should be a strong tournament for Pelletier.

 

Wolf will be interesting, maybe the one I'll watch the most of he makes cut.   This should also be his coming out year in the tournament.

[JTech780]

1 hour ago, jjgallow said:

Should be a strong tournament for Pelletier.

 

Wolf will be interesting, maybe the one I'll watch the most of he makes cut.   This should also be his coming out year in the tournament.

 

Wolf will most likely be serving as the backup to Spencer Knight once again.

[travel_dude]

26 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

Wolf will most likely be serving as the backup to Spencer Knight once again.

 

Yeah, it all depends on their showing.  Unfortunate for Wolf is the late start for the WHL.

College not much better off, but maybe a few games to tune up (Knight).

I mean Knight put up good numbers in the NCAA, but so did Gillies.

Hard to say he's the real deal.

Saying that, they will start Knight if he has a strong camp.

If he doesn't, I don't know if they opt to use Wolfie.

[cross16]

I would love to see Wolf be the guy but it's not likely going to happen. I don't think camp or their performance will make much difference they US are going to go with Knight. 

 

I'm more interested to see if Nodler can play a role and if any of the 3 Russians can sneak onto the team. 

[travel_dude]

Just now, cross16 said:

I would love to see Wolf be the guy but it's not likely going to happen. I don't think camp or their performance will make much difference they US are going to go with Knight. 

 

He'll get a game at least.

He did last year.

It wasn't a really strong showing.

 

Honestly, you are probably right, but if it was me I would go with who was playing well in the camp and early games in the WJC.

You can't just say he's our guy if he craps the bed.

[cross16]

3 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

He'll get a game at least.

He did last year.

It wasn't a really strong showing.

 

Honestly, you are probably right, but if it was me I would go with who was playing well in the camp and early games in the WJC.

You can't just say he's our guy if he craps the bed.

 

I don't disagree, it's just not the way these tournaments tend to work. When a high ranking guy comes in, he's the guy and they ride him until it's too late or all the way. I just don't expect anything different. 

[Thebrewcrew]

I think the US leans to Knight, although I don't know that they should. 

 

Wolf was the USA hockey goalie of the year, instead of Knight. 

 

I think the two are very similar in talent. 

[jjgallow]

8 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

Yeah, it all depends on their showing.  Unfortunate for Wolf is the late start for the WHL.

College not much better off, but maybe a few games to tune up (Knight).

I mean Knight put up good numbers in the NCAA, but so did Gillies.

Hard to say he's the real deal.

Saying that, they will start Knight if he has a strong camp.

If he doesn't, I don't know if they opt to use Wolfie.

 

Even if Wolf just gets 3-4 games in, I'd be interested.   

 

Gillies got 1 game in for his first world juniors, then 4 in his next.  He didn't excel or improve.  Of course, there were health reasons for that.    All the same I'm really keen to see Wolf show that he has another gear this year and that's where to show it.    His number don't show it in his last WHL season and maybe that's understandable when he's the best player in the league.   But in world juniors, starter or not I think it's crucial that we see:

1.   Improvement

2.   Ability to raise his game in a tournament

 

Is it fair to judge a goalie on 3-4 games?  well, no.  But it's all we got, and I'll be watching.

[JTech780]

15 hours ago, jjgallow said:

 

Even if Wolf just gets 3-4 games in, I'd be interested.   

 

Gillies got 1 game in for his first world juniors, then 4 in his next.  He didn't excel or improve.  Of course, there were health reasons for that.    All the same I'm really keen to see Wolf show that he has another gear this year and that's where to show it.    His number don't show it in his last WHL season and maybe that's understandable when he's the best player in the league.   But in world juniors, starter or not I think it's crucial that we see:

1.   Improvement

2.   Ability to raise his game in a tournament

 

Is it fair to judge a goalie on 3-4 games?  well, no.  But it's all we got, and I'll be watching.

 

They only play 5-7 games in this tournament. So unless Knight falters, Wolf will probably only get 1-2 games.

[jjgallow]

9 hours ago, JTech780 said:

 

They only play 5-7 games in this tournament. So unless Knight falters, Wolf will probably only get 1-2 games.

 

the math can work, as long as Canada goes far.

 

ie., last year Russia split 5 games a piece between two goalies, lots of years Canada will do 5-7 games for one goalie and 2-4 for the other.

 

Anyway we''ll see soon enough.

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, jjgallow said:

 

the math can work, as long as Canada goes far.

 

ie., last year Russia split 5 games a piece between two goalies, lots of years Canada will do 5-7 games for one goalie and 2-4 for the other.

 

Anyway we''ll see soon enough.

 

Wrong country.

Wolfie is a Merc.

[jjgallow]

24 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

Wrong country.

Wolfie is a Merc.

 

a Merc lol.  sorry.  yes, knew that.    same argument...   but not sure why i said Canada lol

[JTech780]

2 hours ago, jjgallow said:

 

the math can work, as long as Canada goes far.

 

ie., last year Russia split 5 games a piece between two goalies, lots of years Canada will do 5-7 games for one goalie and 2-4 for the other.

 

Anyway we''ll see soon enough.

 

The most games one team will play is 7 games so the math doesn't work out. Russia didn't really split the games as much as Askarov was pulled twice and Miftakhov was pulled once.

 

Knight played 4 games and Wolf played 1. The same goalies are coming back again. So Wolf will most likely play 1-2 games, unless Knight falters.

[jjgallow]

7 hours ago, JTech780 said:

 

The most games one team will play is 7 games so the math doesn't work out. Russia didn't really split the games as much as Askarov was pulled twice and Miftakhov was pulled once.

 

Knight played 4 games and Wolf played 1. The same goalies are coming back again. So Wolf will most likely play 1-2 games, unless Knight falters.

 

ok fair enough I said that wrong.

 

But, Spencer didn't really knock it out of the park last year.

 

The reason Dustin only played one game is because, well, that one game didn't go too great.     We would like to think that will be different this year and if so there are lots of examples of both goalies getting >3-4 games (even if split)

[cross16]

Looks like no Nikolayev for Russia but Kuznetsov got an invite. Flames 2nd rounder in the most recent draft

 

 

[jjgallow]

https://www.tsn.ca/hockey-canada/video/usa-hockey-names-preliminary-roster-for-world-juniors~2088634

 

Dustin Wolf official now

[Thebrewcrew]

On the Elite Prospects podcast, Craig Button mentioned three players at the Canadian camp have stood out for him. Krebs (VGK) as well as Pelletier and Zary. Button went on to say they've shown tremendous versatility to go along with playing very well. He even had them ahead of guys like Jarvis and Perfetti.

 

Could be as many as 4 Flames prospects in the WJC

[cross16]

A nice takeaway from the tournament is I can see why the Flames liked Kunetsov as much as they did. While he hasn't jumped off the page he's been very solid in the games i've watched and is your modern day defensive dman. Really, really good on his gap control because he's got great short area movement skills for his size. he really does a nice job not getting beat in the defensive zone and really closes well at the blueline.

 

Other than having a solid first pass he hasn't really shown much offense but it's also not really the role Russia is using him in. I have read some reports that say he can hammer a puck so there could be some other options down the road. All in all, while I don't love taking defensive specialists that high in the draft I do get why the Flames liked him and that they see more potential in him. 

[travel_dude]

It's a shame that Wolf won't get in to the Gold Medal game, though I think Knight has been good most of the time.

Can't really fault him too much, but I don't think he has been great.

He's been good and at times great.

......

Then again, I hope Wolf doesn't start.

That would sting if he got the US a win.

 

Looking forward to see if Pelletier has another gear.

He was pretty darn good on the top line.

If McMichael could close, they could have had 4-5 goals.

 

I wonder if any team will sign that Finn goalie

He was pretty good.

 

[sak22]

2 hours ago, travel_dude said:

It's a shame that Wolf won't get in to the Gold Medal game, though I think Knight has been good most of the time.

Can't really fault him too much, but I don't think he has been great.

He's been good and at times great.

......

Then again, I hope Wolf doesn't start.

That would sting if he got the US a win.

 

Looking forward to see if Pelletier has another gear.

He was pretty darn good on the top line.

If McMichael could close, they could have had 4-5 goals.

 

I wonder if any team will sign that Finn goalie

He was pretty good.

 

Interesting it will be the Panthers 7th rounder this year vs. their last 1st rounder.  Definitely good prospects for them, if only they didn't have 10 mil invested on one guy for the next 6 years.

[robrob74]

Byram  plays a lot but is a bit of a puck hog.

 

 

[tmac70]

Have to give credit to the US team, they were the better team by far. 

[cross16]

Credit to US they played a heck of a game. I don't thikn Canada was well prepared for their speed and their aggressive style and they never really seemd to settle into their game. Have to give the US a lot of credit for that though as I thikn their game plan had a lot to do with Canada being tentative. 

 

I don't think it will be long before we see Nate Leaman in consideration for NHL jobs. Maybe he doesn't want to, but he is a heck of a smart coach and did a really nice job with the US in this tournament. I'm consistently impressed by teams he coaches.