Three New England natives were named to the preliminary roster for the 2020 U.S. National Junior Team that will compete in the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Eight other players with a connection to New England will join the hopefuls that will compete in Czech Republic with the goal of making it five straight medals for the Americans. This year’s tournament runs from December 26-January 5.
Providence freshman center Parker Ford (Wakefield, R.I.), Northeastern sophomore Jordan Harris (Haverhill, Mass.) and Boston College freshman goaltender Spencer Knight (Darien, Conn.) were the three locals to make the preliminary roster.
Knight, selected by the Florida Panthers with the 13th overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft, is the only lock of the three New Englanders. The Mid Fairfield Rangers, Avon Old Farms and U.S. NTDP alum has a .940 save percentage in 15 games for Boston College. Knight is the presumed starter for the U.S.
Ford, who played the past two seasons for Sioux City Musketeers, has six goals and eight assists in 17 games this season for the Friars. He played full-season midget hockey at South Kent Selects Academy.
Harris has taken a major step offensively in his second season at Northeastern. The Kimball Union alum has three goals and 18 assists in the first 17 games this season after totaling just 13 points in all of his freshman season. Harris was taken in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens.
New England connections
Boston University is the only local school with multiple players selected to the U.S. National Junior Team preliminary roster. Freshmen forwards Trevor Zegras and Robert Mastrosimone both will head to Plymouth, Mich., with a chance to make the team. Zegras’ spot on the roster is a mere formality.
UMass defenseman Zac Jones, Harvard center Jack Drury, and Yale center Curtis Hall also made the preliminary roster. Hall is a Boston Bruins draft pick, taken in the fourth round in 2018.
Another Bruins prospect, 2019 first rounder Johnny Beecher, will also participate in the pre-tournament camp. Beecher is a freshman center at Michigan.
A former teammate of Ford’s and Jones' at South Kent Selects Academy, North Dakota center Shane Pinto, is the final player selected with ties to the New England.
Boldy snubbed
The most surprising snub from the preliminary roster was Boston College freshman forward Matthew Boldy. The 12th overall pick of the Minnesota Wild in the 2019 draft has struggled some during his freshman season, but he’s a far superior player to a few who were actually selected. Boldy is such a smart player and should have been given a chance. It’s not easy to score against much older players in college hockey.
Back in November, I projected what the team might look like. 19 of the players I mentioned made the preliminary roster. Only Boldy, Boston College teammate and defenseman Drew Helleson, and Wisconsin forward Owen Lindmark did not.
I would have taken Lindmark over two or three of the players selected for his versatility and his ability to play a key role in the bottom six.
