Matthew Robertson, Braden Schneider and Dylan Garand Invited to Hockey Canada’s 2021 WJC Camp
Today Hockey Canada announced a roster of 46 players who will compete for the chance to represent Canada at the 2021 World Junior Championship. That list included three New York Rangers prospects.
Making #NYR proud. 👊
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 29, 2020
Congratulations! https://t.co/aJZfRAQWAF pic.twitter.com/bARmEibMOX
Notably, Alexis Lafrenière was not on the list, which certainly indicates that his main focus is NHL hockey. He was a member of the 2020 team that won Gold, tallying 10 points in five games.
Update: October 29, 2020 1:25 PM
Status of Alexis Lafreniere on Team Canada:
— Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisTHN) October 29, 2020
Tom Renney said discussions have been ongoing with the New York Rangers. Team is open-minded about Lafreniere playing for Canada but Hockey Canada will circle back in 10 days about Lafreniere's #WorldJuniors status.
Dylan Garand was selected at the 2020 draft in the fourth round, and is one of five goaltenders in camp. Devon Levi was also selected in the 2020 draft, and the three remaining goaltenders — Brett Brochu, Taylor Gauthier, and Tristan Lennox — are eligible for the 2021 draft.
Matthew Robertson is one of 10 left handed defenders in camp, and will contend with some recent top picks such as Bowen Byram (No. 4 in 2019), Kaiden Guhle (No. 16 in 2020), and Thomas Harley (No. 18 in 2019) among others.
Braden Schneider is one of five right handed defenders in camp, and he is joined by notable names including Jamie Drysdale (No. 6 in 2020) and Justin Barron (No. 25 in 2020).
Camp is scheduled to begin on November 16th in Red Deer, and will run until December 13. According to the press release:
the selection camp will include practices and three intrasquad games, as well as six games against a team of U SPORTS all-stars, between Nov. 28 and Dec. 13 before the team enters the bubble in Edmonton in preparation for the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship. The camp will take place in a cohort bubble and will be closed to the public and media.
The 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship begins on Christmas Day with three games before Canada kicks off its tournament schedule on Dec. 26 against Germany.
