Two Blades, two Warriors make Canada’s world junior team

Four players with Saskatchewan ties are to represent Canada at the 2024 world junior hockey championship.

Saskatoon-born Brayden Yager of the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors and three members of Saskatchewan-based WHL teams — the Warriors’ Denton Mateychuk and Saskatoon Blades teammates Fraser Minten and Tanner Molendyk — were on the final roster announced by Hockey Canada on Wednesday.

Moose Jaw forward Jagger Firkus was invited to the selection camp, but didn’t make the final roster.

“This was a tremendously competitive camp that showed once again the depth of talent that exists across the country,” Naicam’s Peter Anholt, the under-20 lead for the Program of Excellence management group, said in a media release.

“With so many talented players, difficult decisions had to be made, but the management, coaching and scouting staffs believe the team we have assembled will give us the best chance to compete for a gold medal in Sweden.”

Meet the 2⃣2⃣ players who will wear the 🍁 at the #WorldJuniors!

Voici les 2⃣2⃣ joueurs qui représenteront le 🇨🇦 au #MondialJunior! pic.twitter.com/V6gTjUD24v

— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) December 13, 2023

Only one player on the final roster — Peterborough Petes forward Owen Beck — was on last year’s gold-medal-winning entry. It’s unlikely the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks will make former Regina Pats star Connor Bedard available for the 2024 tournament.

The junior team’s selection camp ran from Sunday through Wednesday in Oakville, Ont. The Canadian team split a pair of exhibition games with a squad of U Sports all-stars, winning 4-2 on Tuesday and losing 6-1 on Wednesday.

Team Canada is to travel to Malmo, Sweden on Thursday for a pre-tournament camp ahead of the championship. The squad is to play exhibition games against an under-25 team from Denmark next Tuesday, Switzerland on Dec. 22 and the United States on Dec. 23.

Canada — the two-time defending champion — is to begin its round-robin schedule at the tournament on Dec. 26 against Finland.

The world junior hockey championship is to run from Boxing Day until Jan. 5 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Canada’s games can be heard on 980 CJME and 650 CKOM.

Yager has 17 goals and 24 assists in 28 games with the Warriors this season. The 18-year-old was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round (14th overall) of the 2023 NHL draft.

Mateychuk, a 19-year-old defenceman from Dominion City, Man., has recorded six goals and 29 assists in 24 games with Moose Jaw so far this season. He was a first-round selection (12th overall) by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2022 NHL draft.

Minten, who was traded to the Blades on Nov. 24, has five goals and 10 assists in 13 games split between the Kamloops Blazers and Saskatoon.

The 19-year-old forward from Vancouver played four games with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs before he was sent back to the WHL. He was taken in the second round (38th overall) by Toronto in the 2022 NHL draft.

Molendyk, an assistant captain with the Blades, has four goals and 24 assists in 24 games with Saskatoon in the 2023-24 campaign. The 18-year-old defenceman, who hails from McBride, B.C., was taken by the Nashville Predators with the 24th pick overall in the 2023 NHL draft.