The Toronto Maple Leafs will see two of their very own prospects represent Team Canada at the upcoming World Junior Championships in Sweden in two weeks.
Hockey Canada announced Wednesday that the Toronto Maple Leafs 2022 second round pick Fraser Minten and their first round pick in 2023 Easton Cowan had cracked the roster for one of the most exciting tournaments in hockey.
Minten was not on many fans radar coming into this past summer, but through the prospects camp and right into the Maple Leafs training camp he kept checking off boxes and impressing the coaching staff.
The Vancouver, British Columbian native would stick with the club out of training camp and get into four regular season games where he averaged 11:26 of ice in each of those contests and even played 14:00 in a 7-4 victory over the Minnesota Wild on October 14.
Toronto Maple Leafs Prospects to Represent Canada
Minten likely would have stuck with the Maple Leafs closer to the nine game mark had injuries not put the organization in a tough situation where they had to move some cap space to bring up some defenseman from the Toronto Marlies. He became a casualty and was sent back to junior.
Originally, the former 38th overall selection rejoined his Western Hockey League team the Kamloops Blazers and collected ten points in seven games, however he was traded to the Saskatoon Blades as they stack up for a Memorial Cup run.
Since joining the Blades, Minten has five points in six games and was the subject of some controversy early this month when he threw a questionable knee on knee hit that resulted in 20 minutes in penalties, however he avoided suspension.
This will be the first time that Minten has represented Canada.
After trading Rasmus Sandin to the Washington Capitals last trade deadline, one of the pieces the team got back was a first round pick which they used in this past draft to select Eason Cowan.
Cowan missed the opening part of the Ontario Hockey League season due to the Maple Leafs giving him a longer look in training camp, however since returning to his London Knights he has been one of the bigger offensive threats in the league.
The Mount Brydges, Ontario native currently sits ninth in league scoring with 39 points in just 23 games and has the second highest points per game average of any player with 22 or more games.
Cowan will be just one of seven 18-year olds on the Canada roster and like Minten, this will be his first time representing his country.
While there are some exhibition games in the upcoming week, the actual tournament will kick off for Canada on Boxing Day against Finland.