Perfetti Headlines Several Key Omissions on Canada's Junior Squad

The International Ice Hockey Federation's original running of the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship was interrupted by various scares related to COVID-19. The wintertime tournament was eventually cancelled midway through round robin play, much to the demise of the players involved. Later this spring, the IIHF and Hockey Canada announced that it would team up to 're-do' the annual tournament during the month of August in order to crown a champion for the 2022 running. The kicker? Countries involved do not have to bring back the same roster of players for the second attempt at one of the most exciting tournaments of the hockey season - err, summer season. That means that players selected in the 2022 NHL Draft or others who intend on trying out with their respective NHL clubs will likely not serve as participants for the sake of dodging potential injury. Players currently using the summer period to rest and heal up following various setbacks would likely also choose not to participate in the festivities. For Canada, the change to the roster is staggering. Officially announced its 25-man team for the August 9-20 showdown in Edmonton, AB next week, Team Canada will see nine high-level players sit out the tournament, while nine incoming players will take their places on the squad that had begun the 2022 World Juniors with a 2-0 record before the tournament's standings and individual players statistics were wiped out. OUT:

Cole Perfetti
Xavier Bourgault
Mavrik Bourque
Dylan Guenther
Jake Neighbours
Justin Sourdif
Shane Wright
Kaiden Guhle
Owen Power

IN:

William Dufour
Joshua Roy
Tyson Foerster
Riley Kidney
Nathan Gaucher
Brennan Othmann
Zack Ostapchuk
Daemon Hunt
Jack Thompson

The remainder of the roster from the original announcement will remain for the Canadians. “We are excited to unveil the 25 players who will represent Canada at the World Juniors, as we believe we have assembled a team that will give us the best chance to win a gold medal on home ice,” said Canada's director of player personnel Alan Millar. “We know this group of players and staff will represent our country with pride and embrace the opportunity to compete in a unique summer event in Edmonton.” Playing in a group consisting of Slovakia, Finland, Czechia, and Latvia, Canada will also see changes to the rosters of its opponents, but quite possibly not as drastic as the ones it experienced itself. Another change to the summer World Juniors is that Russia was not invited to participate in the summer World Juniors due to the country's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Russia was replaced by Team Latvia. Canada will travel to Calgary for a five-day training camp before beginning its tournament on August 10 against Latvia. The Canadians won World Junior gold at the 2020 running, while playing Russia in the final game. Team USA won the 2021 running, defeating Canada in the gold medal game.