A pair of Florida Panthers prospects were in the mix at Team Canada’s selection camp for the World Junior Championships in Calgary this week. As expected, left wing Jonathan Huberdeau (pictured above in white Team Orr jersey) was named to the final roster of 23 players yesterday while forward Francis Beauvillier was among the first cuts made on Wednesday night.
Huberdeau is expected to play on Team Canada’s top line with Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets. Scheifele is moving to right wing from his normal center position for the tournament to give Canada a potentially deadly first unit.
Beauvillier will be heading back to the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL where he has posted 32 points (16G/16A) in 33 games so far this season. Beauvillier faced an uphill battle to make the squad with so many elite level prospects available due to the NHL lockout.
The 2013 World Junior Championships is being played in Ufa, Russia. Team Canada’s first game is on December 26th against Germany.
Team Canada
Forwards: Jonathan Huberdeau, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mark Scheifele, Ryan Strome, Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin, Charles Hudon, Boone Jenner, Anthony Camara, Phillip Danault, J.C. Lipon, Brett Ritchie, Ty Rattie
Defenseman: Dougie Hamilton, Morgan Reilly, Griffin Reinhart, Xavier Ouellet, Scott Harrington, Ryan Murphy, Tyler Wotherspoon
Goaltenders: Malcolm Subban, Jordan Binnington, Jake Patterson