Five New York Rangers prospects remain at WJC; Team USA suffers upset
The New York Rangers had seven of their prospects at the World Junior Championship in Edmonton for the start of the tournament. They are now down to five after Brett Berard and Team USA were upset by Team Czechia in the opening elimination round 4-2.
Team Slovakia and Adam Sykora, who was this year’s first pick (second-round) for the Rangers in the 2022 NHL Draft, did not qualify after going 0-3-1.
New York Rangers prospects at WJC
On Wednesday, the Quarter-Finals opened up with Finland taking down Germany on the strength of a 5-2 victory.
Kalle Vaisanen, a fourth-round in the 2021 Draft, was held scoreless in this contest. The 6-4′ and 181 lb winger has been used in a bottom six role thus far. He has 2 points (1G-1A) in 5 total games played.
Three of the Rangers best prospects all play for Team Canada and will be advancing after a solid 6-3 win over Switzerland.
The game got off to a rocky start for Will Cuylle, who the Blueshirts selected in the second-round of the 2020 Draft. After a bad turnover led to a Swiss goal to open the scoring, he responded with a big tally that essentially put the game out of reach. He finished with that marker and +2 rating. Cuylle has 3 points (2G-1A) in 5 games at the WJC.
Brennan Othmann is playing extremely well in this tournament. Despite not scoring yesterday, the first-round pick in 2021 continues to have an impact in games by being physical. He has 6 points (2G-4A) in 4 games to date.
Dylan Garand, a goalie prospect that the Rangers selected in the fourth-round of the 2020 Draft was solid. He only stopped 23 of 26 shots picking up his fourth straight win in the process.
Finally, Team USA was upset by Team Czechia which also knocked out Rangers 2020 fifth-round pick, Brett Berard. Last year’s Gold Medal winners are eliminated after going 4-0 in preliminary action.
Jaroslav Chmelar, a Rangers 2021 fifth-rounder, did not play for Czechia due to an injury which was caused by Othmann’s skate. This occurred on the hit-from-behind check by Chmelar during round-robin play. He’s missed with games since and may be out for the tournament.
World Junior Championship Schedule (August 19)
No games are scheduled for today. Semifinals action begins on Friday.
- Canada (Othmann, Cuylle, Garand) vs. Czechia (Chmelar) 4 PM ET
- Sweden vs. Finland (Vaisanen) 8 PM ET
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