Canada names captain of World Junior team; Habs fans aren't going to like this one
With the World Junior Championship tournament fast approaching, Team Canada has finally settled on who its 2023 captain will be. Per NHL dot com's Mike Morreale, Canada has named Seattle Kraken center Shane Wright captain of this year's WJC team.
This summer, during the NHL's draft combine and during several interviews with multiple teams in the weeks that followed, Wright had been labelled as having a bit of an attitude and thanks in part to those character issues, combined with a strong Olympic performance from eventual 1st overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, Wright had found himself plummeting to the number 4 pick in the draft.
After spending most of his season as a healthy scratch in Seattle, the Kraken sent Wright to Coachella Valley in the AHL for a conditioning loan. The move appeared to pay off in spades as Wright scored in 4 of his 5 AHL games and scored against the Canadiens in his first game back up in Seattle.
He was promptly loaned to Team Canada for World Junior selection camp and was not only selected, but is now going to be wearing the C for a very stacked Canadian WJC club. This is a team with no less than 5 or 6 viable candidates for the team's captaincy. The fact that it was Wright who was chosen speaks to his character and his leadership abilities - which were some of the questionable attributes that led to him falling in the draft.
Not only did Montreal pass on Wright, but so did New Jersey and Arizona. A huge tournament for the former Kingston Frontenacs captain would go a long way in forcing these teams to eat some crow for passing on him. A strong showing will also help Wright to build some confidence before he heads back to Seattle to join the Kraken for what will hopefully be a strong second half.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 18 | 114 ANSWERS Canada names captain of World Junior team; Habs fans aren't going to like this one Did Team Canada select the correct player to captain this year's WJC team? | ||
| Yes! | 56 | 49.1 % |
| No, it should have been Fantilli | 6 | 5.3 % |
| No, it should have been Bedard | 37 | 32.5 % |
| No, it should have been someone else | 15 | 13.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
