WJC: FC's WJC Preview of Draft Eligible's.

[DanStewart]

Check out the top world junior 2011 draft eligibles and how they may contribute to your teams hope of a gold medal.

Every year it seems like the a few of the top prospects for the next NHL Entry Draft get to show off their wears at the premier junior tournament in the world, the IIHF World Junior Championship. The 2011 event looked to be exceptional when the preliminary rosters were announced as more than the normal quantity of draft eligibles looked to suit up in their repective countries colours and battle for Gold.

After more than a few high profile draft eligibles were cut from their squads during their respective pre-tournament camps we can be thankful that there are still a stellar group to watch although not anywere near what it could have been.

Three potential top selections in Gabriel Landeskog, a Swedish forward with grit and offensive skill; Adam Larsson, the big Swedish two-way defenseman and Canadian two-way forward Sean Couturier will headline the 2011 NHL draft eligible participants.

Couturier, who many pundits predict will become the top player chosen in June, should play a big role for a Canadian squad that will look to the big winger as a solid two-way threat in hopes of getting back on top after loosing a heartbreaker last year to a big, fast and skilled American squad.

Meanwhile Larsson, who has been a household name around the scouting globe for almost four years now and Landeskog who has really been on fire this season in leading Kitchener on and off the ice, will lead a Swedish entry in hopes of shattering Canada and USA’s stranglhold of Gold at the premier IIHF junior aged tournament.

The 10 day long tournemant will likely give NHL talent evaluators a chance to see how each prospect reacts playing in a playoff environment rather than the every day grind of a regular season game.

While it can be a slippery slope for scouts to put much stock into what draft eligible prospects contribute during these short tournaments, the general public typically has no other option as this will likely be the only time they get to see some of the elite prospects in game action from the other side of the Atlantic or continent.

Here is a preview of some of the top draft eligibles that will be competing for Gold at the 2011 World Junior U20 Championship in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York starting December 26, 2010:

Sean Couturier / Canada
Left Wing / Drummondville (QMJHL)
HT: 6’-3” / WT: 200 Lbs
Scouting Report: A big body that plays a well rounded, two-way game…skates well with decent straight line speed but needs to pick up a step and improve upon his acceleration and lateral quickness…

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Also while on the FC blog checkout the Christmas top 60 rankings and other fresh draft content.

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