Team USA’s 2024 World Junior Championship squad will feature a couple of prospects from the nation’s capital. Washington Capitals draft picks Ryan Leonard and Ryan Chesley both made the cut to represent their country in Sweden on Team USA’s final 25-man roster.
This year will mark the first time in a decade that multiple Caps prospects represent Team USA at a World Juniors. Leonard, the eighth-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, will make his debut in the U20 tournament, while Chesley, the Capitals’ second-round selection in 2022, will return for his second tournament after winning bronze in 2023.
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The Capitals last saw multiple Americans compete at a World Juniors in 2014, when Riley Barber, Connor Carrick, and Thomas Di Pauli all competed on the fifth-place US team.
Here’s how this year’s roster will look.
Goaltenders: Trey Augustine, Jacob Fowler, Sam Hillebrandt
Defensemen: Zeev Buium, Seamus Casey, Ryan Chesley, Drew Fortescue, Lane Hutson, Aram Minnetian, Eric Pohlkamp, Sam Rinzel
Forwards: Gavin Brindley, Quinn Finley, Cutter Gauthier, Gavin Hayes, Isaac Howard, Ryan Leonard, Rutger McGroarty, Oliver Moore, Frank Nazar III, Danny Nelson, Gabe Perreault, Will Smith, Jimmy Snuggerud, Carey Terrance
Leonard has impressed in his freshman season at Boston College, with 18 points (10g, 8a) in 17 games. A stellar November saw him rack up 11 of those points (8g, 3a) in just an eight-game span, including a four-goal weekend against Notre Dame and Harvard. That performance earned him recognition as both Hockey East player of the week and Hockey East rookie of the month.
Six of Leonard’s BC teammates also made Team USA’s final roster, including linemates Will Smith and Gabe Perreault. The trio have played together since their days in the US National Team Development Program and formed USA’s top line at the U18 World Championship this spring.
In 7 games at that tournament, Leonard recorded an astounding 17 points (8g, 9a) and scored the overtime, gold-medal winner against Sweden, later describing it as the best moment of his draft year.
Meanwhile, Chesley could play big minutes as one of the veterans on Team USA’s squad. In his sophomore year at the University of Minnesota, he has recorded five points (2g, 3a) in 16 games, third-highest among the team’s defensemen.
Chesley played in all seven of Team USA’s games during their bronze-medal performance at World Juniors in 2023, recording one assist. He will be joined by Golden Gophers teammates Sam Rinzel, Oliver Moore, and Jimmy Snuggerud on the 2024 squad.
The 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship will begin on December 24 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
