Some young NHL skaters deserve to stay in The Show all season, while others would benefit far more from a trip to the World Junior Championship, writes Tony Ferrari.
The World Junior Championship is approaching sooner than you think, and the question is whether or not the eligible players currently playing in the NHL will be heading to the annual under-20 event. Every year, national teams wait with bated breath for whether they will be loaned some of the best players in their age group.
Canada’s Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli, and Team USA’s Logan Cooley are almost assured to stay in the NHL, barring some sort of wild change to their NHL team's plans or performance. All three have been outstanding contributors and sit among their club's scoring leaders. They’ve provided their teams with a breath of fresh air and some young, motivated play.
On Monday, Seattle Kraken GM Ron Francis said that he didn’t envision Shane Wright being loaned out to Team Canada, a year after he captained the team to a gold medal along with Bedard and Fantilli. Francis mentioned the fact that Wright has been there and done that already. With a recent call-up from the AHL and some solid play through three games, Wright being in the NHL makes a ton of sense.
Let’s dive into the possible candidates for who could be released to the world juniors and whether it makes sense for them to go.
Juraj Slafkovsky, LW, Montreal Canadiens
Listen, it definitely sounds a little silly to suggest that the first overall pick from the 2022 NHL draft may be a candidate to go to the World Juniors, but an incredibly slow start that has impacted his confidence a great deal could make it the perfect situation. Through 54 career NHL games, Slafkovsky has 12 points, with just two points in 15 games this season. He hasn’t seemed up to the pace of the play at the NHL level, and despite his 6-foot-3, 230-pound frame, Slafkovsky hasn’t found a way to play with the level of physicality that has made him successful outside of the NHL.
The tentative giant plays in one of the most pressure-packed markets in sports, and the negative noise from inside and outside of the market won’t help his confidence. The discussions around whether he should see time at the AHL level have been plentiful throughout the early goings of the season with plenty of justification.
If the Habs don’t want to send him to the AHL, then why not give him two weeks away over the holidays where he can go to the World Junior Championship and dominate his age group to reassure the masses and himself – that he is one of the best 19-year-old hockey players on the planet. The Canadiens decided against sending him to the event last year, and while that will likely be the case yet again, there is an argument that they should send him.
Will they? Probably not. Would it be entertaining and add an incredible amount of buzz to this year’s world juniors while making the already exciting Slovaks must-watch TV? 100 percent.
Matthew Poitras, C, Boston Bruins
Before the season, the thought of Poitras on the Canadian world junior squad seemed like a near certainty. He was poised to be one of the OHL’s most productive players, and his versatility would have made him a major asset on the Canadian roster. Now as we approach the midway point of November, there is a real possibility that the Bruins won’t even entertain the thought of loaning him out to the Canadian U-20 squad.
Poitras came into training camp and impressed everyone in hockey from day one. The reviews out of Boston have been glowing as he is not only contributing on the ice but also integrating himself into the locker room perfectly. The 2022 second-round pick was never expected to make the roster, but he locked down a roster spot, asserting himself in the top six to open the year. He has since bounced between the second and third lines, but he has become an important piece for the Atlantic Division-leading Bruins.
His production has slowed down as of late, and his play overall hasn’t been quite as effective. It could be the perfect recipe for Poitras to head to the world juniors. It allows him to take a step back from the high-pressure NHL season while giving him a chance to play important minutes against his age group. With the Bruins safely ahead of the rest of the Atlantic and Poitras slowing down a bit, the chances of a loan for a couple of weeks is increasing. Poitras is a legitimate candidate to head to the WJC.
Kevin Korchinski, D, Chicago Blackhawks
His roster spot on Chicago was far from guaranteed, but the club gave him every opportunity to make the team if his play in training camp and pre-season warranted it. Not only did his play earn him a roster spot, but he has found himself playing upwards of 19 minutes a night with consistent power-play time. The 2022 seventh-overall pick is a dynamic presence, and his development at the NHL level is key to him becoming the best version of himself.
With Chicago out of the playoff picture and toiling at the bottom of the standings, there is a chance that the Hawks decide that Korchinski deserves the shot to go play competitive winning hockey while likely wearing the ‘C’ for Team Canada. They may also decide against it as they want to give Korchinski the chance to play NHL games and continue building up his NHL experience. Of all of the players on this list, Korchinski feels like the truest 50/50 shot as to whether he will be loaned out or not. At this point, if I had to make a bet, it would be that Korchinski stays in Chicago.
Leo Carlsson, C, Anaheim Ducks
This is an interesting one, but it also feels fairly simple when you don’t overthink it. Carlsson will stay in Anaheim and won’t be suiting for Sweden at the World Junior Championship. It doesn’t make sense for the second-leading rookie goal-scorer and Ducks' No. 1 center (when he’s in the lineup) to leave the squad for two-and-a-half weeks in the middle of the season.
With that said, the Ducks have been instituting a development plan that has seen Carlsson intentionally skip games every once in a while and focus on building strength and building up his body to work toward taking on a bigger load in the second half of the season. Could the World Junior Championship be the ramp-up for Carlsson, playing a large number of games in a short period of time? Probably not, but it sure would be fun to see.
Tristan Luneau, D, Anaheim Ducks
It’s a no-brainer that Luneau would be sent to the world juniors to represent Canada. The defender has played in just two NHL games, was in the press box as the odd-man out, and was recently sent down to the AHL on a conditioning stint where he has played the five games permitted, and now the Ducks face the decision of what to do with the 6-foot-2 blueliner.
The most likely scenario is what happened with Brandt Clarke last season when the Los Angeles Kings loaned him to the AHL, got him into game action and then allowed him to go to the World Junior Championship before being returned to junior hockey. Luneau is the odd man out as it stands, even with a couple of injuries on the back end, so it makes sense to get the 19-year-old into games for the rest of the season. The world juniors can be a jumping-off point for him.
Zach Benson, LW, Buffalo Sabres
Although he may have been the most exciting player in hockey over the summer, an injury has limited him to just six games to start the season. Thankfully, the highly anticipated prospect returned to practice on Monday. Head Coach Don Granato has stated that he wants to get Benson into a few practices before deciding on when the rookie will return to the Sabres lineup.
They could ease him back into the lineup for a few games and then send him off to the world juniors to get his feet under him before returning to Buffalo in the New Year with the same zest and vigor he started the year with for the club. Had Benson not been injured and missed so much time, he likely would have been out of this conversation, assuming his stellar play from the early season continued.
Although he only had two points in six games, his ability to find ways to be a difference-maker all over the ice was evident. The chance of him being loaned to Team Canada went up because of the missed time, but there’s still no guarantee that the 18-year-old will play a game at the World Junior Championship. It sure would be nice to see him there, though.
