Four Ducks prospects make United States World Junior preliminary roster

The United States National Team has announced their preliminary roster for the 2021 World Junior Championship tournament, taking place in Edmonton from December 26th - January 5th. Four Anaheim Ducks prospects will take part in the training camp leading up to the beginning of the tournament, including Trevor Zegras (2019, 9th overall), Henry Thrun (2019, 101st overall), Jackson LaCombe (2019, 39th overall), and Sam Colangelo (2020, 36th overall).

The team will be making four cuts to the roster over the next few weeks. Zegras and Thrun have their spots all but locked up. Jackson LaCombe is expected to be on the team mostly due to the lack of defensive depth on this year’s squad. The forward group is extremely deep, so Sam Colangelo, one of Anaheim’s newest prospects, will likely have to have a good camp in order to make the final roster.

The United States team struggled last season amid some questionable roster choices as well as puzzling usage from the coaching staff of the team’s top players, highlighted by the fact that Zegras received extremely limited ice time in the beginning of the tournament, despite being one of their best players.

They will hope to learn their lesson from last year and more effectively utilize their top players. Look for Zegras to be a contender for the top line center role in addition to a leadership candidate. Henry Thrun also has a chance at being one of the United States’ top defensive players.

Several other Ducks players will be announced as part of their respective country’s preliminary rosters in the coming days, including this year’s sixth overall pick Jamie Drysdale for Team Canada.

The full U.S. preliminary roster can be found below.