The Montreal Canadiens were tied for the largest number of prospects playing in the 2019 World Junior Hockey Championship, with seven. When the tournament came to its conclusion, two of those prospects were recognized as some of the best Junior players in the world.
All-Stars as voted by the media:
G Luukkonen-Finland
D Romanov-Russia
D Brannstrom-Sweden
F Denisenko-Russia
F Kurashev-Switzerland
F Poehling-USAMVP Poehling-USA
— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) January 6, 2019
Both Russia’s Alexander Romanov and Team USA’s Ryan Poehling were named to the tournament All-Star Team. Poehling was deemed to be the best player at the event, claiming the MVP award.
Directorate Award winners:
Goalie: Pyotr Kochetkov (2019)
Defenseman: Alexander Romanov (MTL)
Forward: Ryan Poehling (MTL)— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) January 6, 2019
In the directorate awards, those recent Canadiens draft picks were honoured once again, chosen as the best players at their respective positions.
Poehling was the tournament’s top scorer through to the final day, seeing Grigori Denisenko overtake him for that title in the Bronze Medal Game. Poehling ‘s greatest performance was a natural hat trick against Sweden, pulling his team from a 4-1 deficit into a 4-4 tie.
Romanov finished as the tournament’s highest-scoring defenceman, with one goal and eight assists to help Russia claim the bronze medal. He’s known more for his defensive play, and it was good to see him having a bit more fun on the offensive side while still being strong in his duties in his own end.
Cayden Primeau, drafted by the Canadiens in the seventh round of the 2017 NHL Draft, also won silver with teammate Poehling. Second-round pick Jesse Ylönen was presented with a gold medal as Finland won for the third time in six years.
