USA Hockey announced their preliminary roster for the 2021 World Junior this afternoon. Buffalo Sabres 2019 first-round pick, Ryan Johnson was among the 29 players selected.
Introducing #TeamUSA’s preliminary roster for the 2021 World Junior Championship. 🇺🇸
Details → https://t.co/jl5TjuVqJH #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/ZygW1II1go
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) November 30, 2020
The US World Junior camp will take place beginning December 6th in Plymouth, Michigan. The final roster will be announced before they head to the World Junior bubble in Edmonton on December 13th.
Prior to heading to Edmonton, they’ll trim this roster down to 25 players. Meaning four cuts are still to come. Johnson is one of three University of Minnesota defenders listed on the roster. With nine total defenders, at least one, and perhaps two cuts could come from that group. Team USA carried seven defensemen last year on their final roster.
Cam York is the only blueliner to return from last year’s squad. I’d still classify Johnson as being on the bubble to make the final roster. It would be nice for him to get this international experience after a good start to his sophomore season with the Gophers.