A trio of Blackhawks prospects will be heading to Edmonton ahead of the upcoming World Junior Championship.
Kirby Dach, the Blackhawks No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, will play for Canada after being named to the 25-man roster that was revealed on Friday.
Representing Canada has become a common theme for Blackhawks prospects lately:
Kirby Dach will be the third player in the past three years from the #Blackhawks organization to play for Canada at #WorldJuniors.
MacKenzie Entwistle and Ian Mitchell played in 2019.
— Brandon Cain (@brandonmcain) December 11, 2020
[Update] Landon Slaggert, a left wing that Chicago picked in the third round (79th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft, was named to the final roster for Team USA on Saturday morning.
The situation is slightly different for Blackhawks prospects Michal Teply and Michael Krutil. On Friday, both players were included on the 28-man roster that will travel to Edmonton for the World Juniors. However, the Czech roster must still be cut down to 25, which means three more players from will be cut before the tournament begins.
Teply, who plays left wing, joined the Blackhawks in 2019 as a fourth-round draft pick (105th overall). Krutil, a defenseman, joined the organization one year later as another fourth-round pick (110th overall).
It’s been a hectic build-up to the World Juniors due to the ongoing pandemic, and several Blackhawks prospects were affected. In Germany, 2020 first-round pick Lukas Reichel tested positive for the coronavirus and will not play in the tournament. Team USA also had multiple Blackhawks prospects vying for roster spots, but defenseman Alex Vlasic and goaltender Drew Commesso — a pair of second-round picks — did not attend training camp because of apparent COVID-19 protocols involving Boston University’s hockey team, where both Vlasic and Commesso play.
The 45th edition of World Junior Championship are scheduled to begin on Christmas Day in Edmonton, with the gold medal game scheduled for Jan. 5, 2021.