Now that USA Hockey has won gold at the 2021 World Junior Championship, attention turns to who the Americans will bring back to Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, for next year’s marquee event on the junior calendar. USA Hockey has never won back-to-back gold medals at world juniors, and doing so in 2022 will be...
Now that USA Hockey has won gold at the 2021 World Junior Championship, attention turns to who the Americans will bring back to Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, for next year’s marquee event on the junior calendar.
USA Hockey has never won back-to-back gold medals at world juniors, and doing so in 2022 will be a tall order. MVP Trevor Zegras and his 27 career points at the tournament will have aged out, as will star goaltender Spencer Knight (Darien, Conn.) and other key offensive players such as Matthew Boldy (Millis, Mass.), Cole Caufield, Arthur Kaliyev and Alex Turcotte.
The 2001 birth year was a special one for the U.S., so losing that group will prove challenging to replace. The ’02 class isn’t anywhere near as strong. The ’03 class is a little better, but the next real good American birth year is 2004.
Two of the key returning players will be local products. Center Matt Beniers (Hingham, Mass.) and left wing Brett Berard (East Greenwich, R.I.) will be counted on to lead the way offensively for the red, white and blue. They’re not local, but defensemen Jake Sanderson (North Dakota) and Brock Faber (Minnesota) are key returners on the blue line. All three goaltenders from this year’s team will age out, paving the way for Boston University freshman Drew Commesso (Norwell, Mass.) to take the top spot between the pipes.
Below is a look at my projected line chart for the 2022 U.S. National Junior Team that will compete in the 2022 World Junior Championship.
Brett Berard - Matt Beniers -Ty Smilanic
Cross Hanas - Thomas Bordeleau - Chaz Lucius
Sasha Pastujov - Dylan Duke - Jack O’Brien
Matthew Knies - Landon Slaggert - Dylan Peterson
Matt Coronato
Jake Sanderson - Brock Faber
Luke Hughes - Sean Behrens
Wyatt Kaiser - Jack Peart
Tyler Kleven
Drew Commesso
Gibson Homer
Owen Millward
Below are the other players who I think should be under consideration and potential invitees to the World Junior Summer Showcase:
Forwards
Mackie Samoskevich
Luke Tuch
Isaac Howard
Red Savage
Chase Yoder
Jack Hughes
Artem Shlaine
Cameron Berg
Hunter Strand
Jackson Kunz
Defensemen
Eamon Powell
Jacob Truscott
Aidan Hreschuk
Tyler Dunbar
Scott Morrow
Ryan Ufko
Gerard Keane
Goaltenders
Aidan Campbell
Grant Riley
Xavier Medina
