Minnesota Wild prospect, Connor Dewar should feel somewhat aggrieved after being left out of the World Junior Championship selection camp for Team Canada.
Having put up a good showing in the CIBC Canada Russia Series for Team WHL, you’d have thought that Connor Dewar would find a place at the camp. Instead, the Minnesota Wild third round draft pick in 2018 is left asking the question of what exactly he needs to do to get selected?
His 41 points (23 goals and 18 assists) in 26 games for the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League would typically be seen as enough to get picked, but maybe it’s his age, being nineteen years old that is the problem.
Either way, it seems a little questionable to pick a guy like Jaret Anderson-Dolan ahead of him. Whilst Jaret has played five games in the NHL this year with the Los Angeles Kings and is the same age as the Minnesota Wild draftee, he is currently listed as injured.
Using the same comparative example, Anderson-Dolan’s points totals with the Spokane Chiefs last season marked a 1.3 points-per-game pace, whereas Connor Dewar’s current pace is closer to 1.6 points-per-game, in the same league.
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Another player selected ahead of Dewar, also a nineteen year old, is Cody Glass. He represents a much fairer pick, his 51 points in 24 games in the WHL this year is better than Connor Dewar on a per game basis.
It’s hard to look at the forward group headed to the selection camp and not find at least a few names that you could rank Connor Dewar above.
Sure, some of them have cracked the NHL or are posting strong numbers in major junior, but so too is Dewar – he’s not sitting ninth in points in the WHL for no reason.
Even more intriguingly, looking at the league leaders in the WHL, the Team Canada selection also overlooked Trey Fix-Wolansky, who is proving dominant for the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Columbus Blue Jackets’ draft pick has 57 points in 30 games; he too was overlooked.
For the Minnesota Wild, they’ll see it as a missed opportunity for their youngster to potentially see some ice-time in a big tournament atmosphere. With any luck though, Connor will take the decision by Team Canada as something to drive him more; a motivator, if you will.