The Finnish hockey federation today announced the roster for a summer camp that includes two games against the Czechs.
The Leafs’ recent draft pick Eemeli Räsänen is on that roster.
The camp begins on July 22, and the two games are on July 24 and 25. On Wednesday, July 26, the Finns will announce their roster for the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan which begins on July 29.
If Räsänen makes that roster, he is still not a lock for the Finnish WJC team. Finland has a lot of defencemen, many older than 18, to pick from. There are ten defenders in total for this preliminary selection camp.
Räsänen competed on the national team in U18 play last season at the WJC-U18, the Hlinka Memorial Tournament, as well as appearing on the U17 team the year before.
Also in Plymouth for the WJSS will be Timothy Liljegren for Team Sweden and Joseph Woll for Team USA. The Leafs have no top junior eligible Canadians in the system at the moment, so those three seem like the most probable Leafs prospects at the 2018 WJC.
