Canucks prospect Braeden Cootes making his case at Canadian world junior camp
Cootes, 18, is a right-shot centre with the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds, and Vancouver picked him at No. 15 a month ago in Los Angeles. Cootes signed his three-year, entry-level deal with the Canucks July 9, and he's expected to return this season to the Thunderbirds. He had 26 goals and 63 points in 60 regular season games with a young, rebuilding Seattle team last season. He was Seattle's captain as well.
There were 44 players invited to the camp this week, but eight forwards are listed as 'unable to attend' by Hockey Canada. The includes Kelowna Rockets centre Tij Iginla and Brandon Wheat Kings centre Roger McQueen, who both missed much of last season with injuries.
Canada's invited list features seven players from last year's world junior squad who were eligible to return. Cootes is among 22 players invited who previously won gold at the Under-18 worlds. There are eight 18-year-old forwards invited, including Cootes. The remaining 20 are 19 years old.
Longtime London Knights coach Dale Hunter is bench boss for this Canadian representative. The tournament is in Minneapolis and St. Paul and gets going Boxing Day.
Cootes has been lauded for his leadership and character. Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said on draft day: 'They have a lot of great history of NHL players coming out of that program and Braeden being a captain, a leader of that team, that excited my staff.'
Canucks defence prospect Sawyer Mynio, who was a Cootes teammate with Seattle before being traded to the Calgary Hitmen last year, played for Canada at last year's world juniors in Ottawa. Canada lost 4-3 to Czechia in the quarterfinals.
Mynio and Cootes shared the 'C' before Mynio went to Calgary.
The players this week will spit into two teams for practices and an intrasquad game on Tuesday before facing Finland on Wednesday, Sweden on Friday and the U.S. on Saturday. Every game will be livestreamed at USAHockeyTV.com but a subscription is required.
SEwen@postmedia.com
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