San Jose Sharks World Junior Recap

Well that was a fun tournament.

That is what fans would say if they weren’t San Jose Sharks fans. Yes this tournament might be one to forget for the three Sharks prospects that participated, but that doesn’t mean their future is in doubt. Anything can happen during a two week span so fans will look forward to how the players will develop afterwards. Anyways, here is how those Sharks prospects fared.

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Rourke Chartier

Chartier was an interesting case as he started the tournament on the fourth line with Anthony Beauvillier and Julien Gauthier. But his Joe Pavelski-esque versatility allowed him to slot anywhere in the lineup so later on he found himself playing with higher profile line mates such as Dylan Strome and Mitch Marner. His increase in ice time and work on the penalty kill were encouraging to see but they were short lived after the game against Sweden.

Something must have happened after the round-robin as I didn’t hear Chartier’s name a single time during their elimination game against Finland. My guess is he was used as the 13th forward for that game but the nonstop mix of line mates will prepare him well for Pete DeBoer and his line-blender.

Noah Rod

As one of the veterans of this tournament, Rod gave Sharks fans a reason for excitement as he was great in this tournament. Despite playing on a weaker team that was out-possessed every game, Rod was still capable of scoring a point per game. In some ways, his efforts reflected past tournaments as he scored a point per game and he was recognized by the coaches.

However, the concern for Rod was this.

ICYMI:

After the tournament, Rod was taken to the hospital after suffering an injury from a blocked shot. I don’t know how long the recovery time is or if he is already back, but let’s hope this doesn’t affect the great season he is having. Sharks fan will be curious to see if Rod will cross the pond over to San Jose after this season is finished.

Timo Meier

Finally, we arrive at the Sharks’ top prospect who was anti-Chartier in this tournament.

Rod was the prospect that stole the show for Switzerland while Meier remained a non-factor for most of the round-robin. His only goal was after the United States was beating them by an absurd margin (Seriously, that game was embarrassing to watch, 5 goals on 10 shots?).

He did play well afterwards, but that was after Switzerland had been eliminated and sent to the relegation series. Sharks fans will be eager to see how Meier can rebound from a mediocre tournament and he is off to a good start.

Playing on the second-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League can only do wonders for his confidence.

Next Year

To state the obvious, this year was underwhelming for Sharks prospects at this tournament. Luckily, we have the 2017 World Junior Championships to look forward to. The future is bright as there are three Sharks prospects with a good chance of participating.

The first two were members of the Latvian team that won the pool below the main tournament and was promoted to the big stage. Those two are fifth-round picks Karlis Cukste and Rudolfs Balcers. Cukste was named best defenseman at the Division I World Juniors (here comes the next Brent Burns) and Balcers was among the tournament leaders in shots. These performances will set up for an exciting Latvian team that Sharks fans will keep an eye on.

Next: Pavelski, Burns Named As All-Stars For Sharks

The last candidate is none other than Jeremy Roy, one of the better prospects in the system. Roy is still in his development stage but Sharks fans are counting on him as the power-play quarterback of the future. Next year’s tournament is a good chance for Roy to display how far he has progressed from the draft. If he can become anything like his comparables, then the Sharks have a good one in Roy. That is if he can make the team of course.