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The World Juniors are close once again, and it’s time to start naming some teenaged players to serve as representatives of their country in the sport of ice hockey.
For the US, Three Bruins prospects have been officially named to the Preliminary Roster, to be paired down throughout the month of December: They are Trent Frederic, Ryan Lindgren, and Jeremy Swayman.
Let’s take a quick jaunt to see how these guys are doing and what chances they stand in staying on the team:
Trent Frederic - Forward:
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The Badgers alternate captain currently sits at 16 points (8 goals, 8 assists) in 19 games for the University of Wisconsin, tied for the team lead. Wisconsin is tied with UNH for 15th in the Pairwise Rankings and 12th on the USCHO poll.
Chances of staying: High. He was part of the Bronze-winning U18 team in 2015-16, where he had 7 points in 7 games. While not exactly the highest scoring player, he’s largely been lauded as a two-way guy that can serve as a center on any line against similar competition. He’ll likely take a middle six role.
Ryan Lindgren - Defenseman:
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Yet another alt-captain, huh? Neat. Lindgren has 4 points in 18 games for the University of Minnesota, but is a defender, so that’s perfectly fine for him. Minnesota is 7th in the USCHO poll and in the Pairwise Rankings.
Chances of Staying: Again, high. Lindgren was part of the gold medal winning squad last year, where he played all 7 games and notched a point. Lindgren has also been called upon to be leadership for the US twice in his international career, twice as captain for the U17, and once for the U18 team that finished Bronze in 2015-16.
Jeremy Swayman - Goaltender:
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The only player from the University of Maine to be selected, Swayman has put up a solid .925 SV% in 10 starts as a freshman. Maine is out of the top 15 in both Pairwise and USCHO polling.
Chances of Staying: Up in the air.
Right now, Swayman has the game results: a higher SV% than either Oettinger or Woll, but has played less games. Oettinger and Woll on the other hand, have the pedigree. Both were part of the World Junior team last year that won it all, and both had phenominal SV%’s on the world stage, where Swayman has never been invited to play for Team USA before now. As the new kid to the national team, he’s gonna need to fight tooth and nail for recognition against both of these established names.
Congratulations to all three, and good luck! I hope they all stay and make Team USA even better!