For the first time in at least 20 years, the Montreal Canadiens will not have a representative at the World Junior Hockey Championships. Noah Juulsen did not make the team for Team Canada and word has just come out of Swedish Ice Hockey Association that Lukas Vejdemo was dropped at the final cut for Team Sweden. He was cut along with Fredrik Olofsson (University of Nebraska-Omaha) and Sebastian Aho (Skellefteå) who left the game yesterday after a shot hit his larynx and is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks.
The big forward faced stiff competition with his limited offensive skills, but as a defensive forward he could have taken the tough starts in a team that excels on the offence. This was Vejdemo’s final chance to make the tournament and he has come a long way since last year where he was mostly unheard of as a third round pick by the Canadiens.
Vejdemo himself said to HabsEOTP a month ago that it would be difficult to make the cut as the forwards coming in from across the Atlantic (like William Nylander) would just add to the Swedish depth, who have 12 returning players from last year.
Vejdemo will now go back to Sweden. His club team, Djurgården, plays Skellefteå on Boxing Day.
