A preview of Rangers prospects at the 2021 World Juniors

The Rangers have two prospects slated to play for Team Canada

Canada announced its final roster today, and unsurprisingly Rangers prospects Braden Schneider (RHD) and Dylan Garand (G)  were included on the team. Schneider almost made the team last year and he looked very good in the games Team Canada were able to stream earlier in camp.

Look, I still don’t love the pick at 19, but he is a good player and the suggestion that he can’t play the game is not based on reality. I just don’t love his upside, that’s all. Schneider will play an important shutdown role for Canada, likely eating some of the toughest minutes. I doubt he gets much powerplay time, but keep an eye on his puck moving ability because it looked improved in camp.

Canada’s goaltending situation is unpredictable, as usual. I do think that Garand is the most talented of the three goalies who made the team, and he certainly has the best ability to steal a game. Canada normally likes to ride the hot hand in goal (talk about fallacies all you want but it works in a short tournament). If he falters in his first start, I have a hard time seeing him getting another.

But if he grabs his opportunity he could be Canada’s starting goaltender. Unfortunately, Rangers 2019 second round pick Matthew Robertson was cut from the team due to pandemic issues. Regardless, it has been quite some time since the Rangers have had even one player on Team Canada, so this is an exciting time.