Flames prospects at WJC. UPD: Hickey & McDonald make final Team Canada roster

[sureLoss]

Already known that Hickey and McDonald are in consideration for Team Canada

Kylington and Anderson in consideration for Sweden. Ollas Matsson also getting a look for Sweden but may be a longshot

@THNRyanKennedy: Belarus has sent a WJC invite to Calgary Flames pick Pavel Karnaukhov of the WHL Hitmen. He's a dual citizen (Russia)

@THNRyanKennedy: Pavel Karnaukhov update: Russians also interested in Flames pick/WHL Hitman for WJC. Dual citizen from Belarus still hurt (hand) right now

[sureLoss]

It is a bit of an interesting quandary for Kranaukhov if he has a choice between Belarus and Russia.

Recall that once he plays for one of these countries at an IIHF sanctioned tournament he is pretty much locked into that country for future IIHF tournaments (World Championships, Olympics, etc). There is a way to switch to another country later on his hockey career but it is a lot of red tape/time involved and you can only switch to another country once.


On one hand, if he plays for Belarus, he likely gets a lot of ice time and will be counted as one of the leaders for that team. However, Belarus isn't exactly a hockey power and likely won't go far in tournaments, but he should be able to get on future teams relatively easy.

On the other hand, if he plays for Russia, he likely goes deep into hockey tournaments getting experience. However, Russia has a lot better and deeper talent pool than Belarus so his ice time might be limited behind other players and it will be harder to make future teams.

[GreenLantern]

I would take the Russia route simply for the fact that it is better for his development. Playing for Belarus later on doesn't matter much if your development was stunted and you weren't able to make a career out of playing hockey.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

I would take the Russia route simply for the fact that it is better for his development. Playing for Belarus later on doesn't matter much if your development was stunted and you weren't able to make a career out of playing hockey.

Why would Russian be better for his development? There are pros and cons to either decision and it's the World Juniors, important for us but not exactly something that has a long term developmental impact for players.

[dammage79]

Not sure. what do you think would be best for a guy like Karhnaukov?

I'm on the side of 1st line and PP minutes with Belarus, may not have a ton of talent to work with but he'll get much more valuable experience that way where he'd likely be 3/4 line guy with extremely limited speacial teams assignments with Russia.

Besides, it's no guarantee he'd be a lock with Russia whereas with Belarus, they'd be super pumped to have him (I assume).

[MrMastodonFarm]

Honestly really don't care either way nor do I think either would be better or worse. Russia he plays less, maybe he doesn't even make the team? Belarus he makes the team and is a leader but has a short tournament. World Junior tournaments are a minor blip on the long development curve for a player so I really don't care.

If I were him I'd go with Belarus, if he feels a real connection with it. If he becomes an NHL player or even a fringe one he probably gets a chance to play for them in the Olympics too.

[polak]

Belarus is pretty consistent in terms of staying in the top group of the IIHF ranks and starved for top talent so personally, I'd go with them if I were in his shoes since he'll have a much higher chance of playing in big tournaments.

Chances of him cracking the Russian line up for best on bests? Probably not great.

[albertGQ]

Didn't Petr Nedved switch twice? From Czechoslovakia, to Canada, to Czech Republic?

[sureLoss]

Might have been different rules during Nedved's time, especially with the defection issue during the cold war.

Directly from the IIHF's website:
http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/c...f-eligibility/

Change of national eligibility (The ‘four-year’ case)
A player, who has previously participated in IIHF competition, can switch national eligibility (but only once in a player's life) if:
He is a citizen of the new country of his choice
He has participated for at least four consecutive years (1460 days) in the national competitions of his new country, during which period he has neither transferred to another country nor played ice hockey within any other country and has not played for his previous country in an IIHF competition during this four year period.
He has an international transfer card (ITC) that shows the transfer to the national association of his new country and which was approved and dated at least four years before the start of the IIHF competition in which he wishes to participate.

[Loudog]

I'm just onboard for whatever he wants. I imagine he feels stronger ties towards one of them, just my guess. Interested to see how this pans out.

[vilzeh]

you forgot the future flame: Puljujärvi

[1qqaaz]

So there's no way Andrew Mangiapane will be on the team?

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

So there's no way Andrew Mangiapane will be on the team?

from what I understand he is a longshot

[codynw]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

from what I understand he is a longshot

Why wouldn't they want him? Seems to be having another great season.

[sureLoss]

McKenzie outlines the position battles here with the strongest candidates:
http://www.tsn.ca/position-battles-i...squad-1.391992

Doesn't mention mangiapane.

LW is one of the strongest positions for team canada, they are bringing a lot of size down it.

the top 2c spots seem to be filled with Point and Strome. Add Barzal or Marner with capability of playing top 2c.

Just doesn't seem to be room

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by codynw

Why wouldn't they want him? Seems to be having another great season.

Brayden Point fills his niche better than he does.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

However, Belarus isn't exactly a hockey power and likely won't go far in tournaments...

[getbak]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Didn't Petr Nedved switch twice? From Czechoslovakia, to Canada, to Czech Republic?

I don't think he ever played for Czechoslovakia in an international tournament. There was no Under-18 World Championships back then and he didn't play for them in the World Juniors.

He defected after his team won the Mac's Midget Tournament, but that was a club team and not the Czechoslovakian national team.



Peter Stastny did switch twice, playing originally for Czechoslovakia; then he played for Canada in the 1984 Canada Cup; then he played for Slovakia after the Velvet Revolution. I don't know if the Canada Cup was ever a fully sanctioned IIHF tournament, so he may not have needed to follow the IIHF rules to play for Canada. Also, it was during the Cold War, so the rules may have been more flexible for defectors.

[Komskies]

Barzal sounds like an industrial cleaning solution.

[sureLoss]

woah IIHF prohibits Jake Walman from playing for Team USA. his only choice is to play for Canada... could have implications for hickey

http://www.tsn.ca/mckenzie-the-curio...alman-1.400601

The bottom line is Walman can't play for the Americans at this WJC.
He is, however, eligible to play for Team Canada. As a born and hockey-bred Canadian, he does not need to satisfy any residency requirements. In the eyes of the IIHF, he's as Canadian as Canadian can be.
So, does Hockey Canada get past the fact Walman chose the U.S. over Canada in the summer and invite him to the Canadian national junior team final selection camp, Dec. 10 in Toronto?
We'll find out officially on Tuesday, when Hockey Canada will announce the players invited to the final camp. The sense is Walman is more likely than not to be among the 10 or 11 defenceman invited to try out for the seven available positions. But a final decision has yet to be made.