Blackhawks center Kirby Dach and goalie prospect Alexis Gravel were excluded from the Canadian national junior team’s preliminary roster for the 2020 World Junior Championship on Monday.
The 18-year-old Dach, selected third overall in this year’s NHL draft, is having a strong start to his rookie season with the Blackhawks. In 20 games, he has five goals and five assists.
Even though he wasn’t named to the camp roster, Hockey Canada could have Dach join the team if the Blackhawks decide to loan him out for the tournament. Chicago previously did that with defenseman Henri Jokiharju, who was not named to Finland’s initial camp roster but ended up helping Finland win gold at last year’s tournament.