WJC Selection Camp Rosters, Trade Rumours, and More!

There’s plenty to talk about around the hockey world, as trade rumours heat up, a few teams continue to freefall in the standings, and the World Junior Championships draw closer.

• On Tuesday, USA hockey unveiled their list of 31 players invited to their World Junior selection camp. Unsurprisingly, Sens prospects Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven were both invited. Tyler Boucher was not.
• Canada also announced their selection camp roster. No surprises here, as Ridly Greig is the only Senator represented. He’ll get to play on a team with Shane Wright, but before you get too excited about that, remember Lazar and McDavid’s bromance in the 2015 WJC. I’m still not over that betrayal.
• Matt Murray has arrived in Belleville, and he has some… interesting things to say about the Belleville Senators’ organization. It’s hard not to interpret this as a pointed jab at the NHL club, considering that he apparently hasn’t yet had a real conversation with the front office about why he was waived and where he’s supposed to go from here./

Goaltender Matt Murray on joining the #BellevilleSens:

"By their professionalism and the way they conduct themselves down here, it's no surprise to me that they've been winning. I've been happy to be here and I'm having a blast." #ForTheB

🎞 https://t.co/jdXN0IhM3B pic.twitter.com/ImmJskjM8x

— Belleville Senators (@BellevilleSens) November 30, 2021

• With the Canucks having recently played both the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators, Down Goes Brown asks which of the three struggling Canadian teams has it worse, over at The Athletic.
• The Sportsnet staff has a rumour roundup with some interesting bits of information for Sens fans. Claude Giroux is still being linked to Ottawa, although we still have no information on whether or not the Sens are interested. Jake DeBrusk has also apparently requested a trade out of Boston. That’s another player I’d like to see Ottawa take a swing at - someone with a lot of potential but who’s been struggling lately and will be an RFA this summer. The one downside is that he’s a left winger, and the Sens already have enough of those, but he could be a good option on the third line.
• Shane Pinto has undergone shoulder surgery and will probably be out for the season. If he does come back, it will only be for a few games at the very end of the season.
• Hockey In Society has a good post about Gary Bettman and Don Fehr and why they need to go.
• After a zoom hearing on Tuesday, Brendan Lemieux has been suspended 5 games for biting Brady Tkachuk. The video released by the Department of Player Safety is pure comedic gold, and I would highly recommend taking 3 minutes out of your day to watch it. Imagine getting paid to put together a step-by-step analysis of a grown man biting another grown man at work. They had to explain how there wasn’t enough information to confirm that Brady’s right hand was bleeding from a bite, so the suspension was only assessed based on the first bite to Brady’s left hand. What a league. The end card that lists the “key points” is absolutely beautiful.
• One of my favourite hockey players, Mikyla Grant-Mentis of the PHF’s Toronto Six, made Forbes’s Top 30 Under 30 sports list. The only other hockey player on the list was team USA’s Kendall Coyne-Schofield. Pretty cool!
• Colour of Hockey has a very cool story about Lebanon’s national hockey program.
• Sharks forward Evander Kane has cleared waivers, and by the looks of it has no intention of ever taking accountability for his actions. The Sharks are reportedly talking to a few teams about a trade./