Final US World Juniors Roster Announced

Here is the official roster from USA Hockey.

I guess not a lot of big surprises. With the unavailability of Justin Faulk and the injury to Seth Jones, that meant that the US had to cut just one defenseman. It likely came down to one of Stephen Johns, Kevin Gravel, and Austin Levi, and Levi ended up being the one cut. Neither of the three leave me terribly excited, but Johns and Gravel provide a little more mobility than Levi would have.

At forward, the cuts were John Gaudreau, Brian Ferlin, Kenny Agostino, and Shane Prince. I thought Gaudreau and Ferlin would be on the team heading into camp, but TJ Tynan and Austin Czarnik both made stronger, more compelling cases to be on the team, which kind of made Gaudreau's role superflluous, and Ferlin reportedly just didn't have a great camp.

Dean Blais taking one of his own players in Josh Archibald still surprises me a little bit, though Archibald reportedly looked good in the camp. That's the type of move that will be monitored very closely, and if Archibald doesn't perform well, I think Blais will come in for some deserved criticism.

This is one of the older teams the US has had in a while, with only three players--goalie John Gibson, defenseman Jacob Trouba, and forward JT Miller--eligible to return next season.