Canada set its 23-man roster for the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship on Sunday after cutting four players.

Defenseman Noah Juulsen, selected by the Montreal Canadiens with the 26th pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, was among the cuts. Defenseman Jeremy Lauzon (Boston Bruins), and forwards Jayce Hawryluk (Florida Panthers) and Nicholas Merkley (Arizona Coyotes) were also released.

Bellows, a 6-foot, 196-pound left wing, leads USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Under-18 team with 24 goals in 27 games and is second with 40 points. He received an A rating from NHL Central Scouting in its November players to watch list.

Also released from the team were two other 2016 draft prospects, goaltender Tyler Parsons and defenseman Casey Fitzgerald.

Parsons, who plays for London in the Ontario Hockey League, ranks among the top five in the OHL in wins (19, second), goals-against average (2.46, fourth) and save percentage (.917, fourth). He has a B rating on the November players to watch list.

BOSTON -- Ron Wilson, coach of the United States national junior team, feels Auston Matthews is a more confident player this week than the one he saw four months ago.

Matthews left the United States to play for Zurich in Switzerland's top professional league following USA Hockey's National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., in August. He returned to the U.S. this week for the four-day U.S. Junior Select Camp at Boston University.

Wilson knows Matthews needs to play a huge role if the United States is going to have any success in the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Finland beginning Dec. 26. He also knows the pressure will be on, but the fact Matthews has spent the past three months playing against men and for a Stanley Cup-winning coach in Marc Crawford in Switzerland might alleviate some of the heat.

BOSTON -- Earning the role as starting goaltender for the United States at the IIHF 2016 World Junior Championship won't come easy.

There are four viable candidates, three of whom are present at the United States national junior selection camp this week on the campus of Boston University.

Some believe Brandon Halverson (6-foot-4, 179 pounds) of Sault Ste. Marie in the Ontario Hockey League and Alex Nedeljkovic (6-0, 190) of Niagara (OHL) have the inside track. Luke Opilka of Kitchener (OHL) and Tyler Parsons of London (OHL) are the other hopefuls.

"I definitely revel in this type of situation [at select camp]," Halverson said. "If you come in and they just hand you the spot, sometimes you lose that focus or edge to really stay in there. It's good that I have these good shooters and good goalies next to me. It's going to be a good battle."

BOSTON -- Left wing Matthew Tkachuk said he can learn a lot from center Auston Matthews on what it takes to be successful at the World Junior Championship.

Tkachuk will get that opportunity this week during USA Hockey's national junior selection camp at Agganis Arena on the campus of Boston University. The camp runs Tuesday through Friday.

Tkachuk and Matthews, each an A-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's November players to watch list for the 2016 NHL Draft, are not only linemates at camp, but roommates.

"I've been peppering his brain a little bit," said Tkachuk, who plays for London in the Ontario Hockey League. "I ask him all the little stuff. What I might expect in practice. What he expects the coaches will bring and how hard it will be. He's given me positive feedback and we'll keep taking about it because he's a very approachable guy."

ETOBICOKE, Ontario -- Canada junior team hopeful and Calgary Flames prospect Brandon Hickey was appreciative of the kind words from Buffalo Sabres rookie Jack Eichel last week.

Eichel praised his former Boston University teammate and wished the best for the 19-year-old at the Canada junior team selection camp, but he wouldn't go as far as cheering for Canada.

"I can't blame him," Hickey said. "He's an American, for sure, and loyal to his country.

"Jack and I are good friends. It was pretty cool to have a player of his caliber to say those nice things about me."

Hickey was among the 26 Canadian players who will travel to Europe on Monday for a training camp to prepare for the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship that begins in Helsinki, Finland, on Dec. 26.

BOSTON -- Auston Matthews is looking forward to his return to the United States this week for USA Hockey selection camp for the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship.

The camp will be held at Agganis Arena in Boston from Dec. 15-18.

Matthews, an 18-year-old left-shot center, is expected to be the first pick of the 2016 NHL Draft. He has 13 goals and 23 points in 20 games with Zurich in National League A, Switzerland's top professional league. He received an A rating from NHL Central Scouting in its November players to watch list.

"I'm very excited to see the guys and looking forward to having a great week of preparation as a group in Boston," Matthews told NHL.com.

Vancouver, B.C. - Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning announced today that the club has loaned forward Jake Virtanen to Team Canada for the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Virtanen, 19, has played in two games for the Comets on a conditioning assignment and in 19 games with the Canucks in his rookie season, recording four points (1-3-4) and 15 penalty minutes. He is also currently fourth among NHL rookies in hits with 53. Virtanen made his NHL debut on October 13th at Los Angeles and notched his first career NHL point with an assist on October 27th vs Montreal. He registered his first career NHL goal on November 2nd vs Philadelphia.

To read more from the Canucks website, CLICK HERE.

ETOBICOKE, ONTARIO -- Defenseman Jakob Chychrun was a surprise cut from the Canada junior team selection camp on Sunday.

Coach Dave Lowry released three other players: New York Islanders prospect Michael Dal Colle, left wing Spencer Watson and center Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Chychrun, 17, who plays for Sarnia of the Ontario Hockey League, was not made available after being informed that he would not accompany Canada to Europe to begin preparations for the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship that begins in Helsinki, Finland, on Dec. 26.

Chychrun and Dubois were two of three players on Canada's roster who are eligible for the 2016 NHL Draft; forward Julien Gauthier remains on the team.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario -- The news that caught everybody's fancy after two on-ice sessions at the Canadian junior team selection camp was the all-Ontario Hockey League combination of left wing Lawson Crouse, center Dylan Strome and right wing Mitchell Marner, even though this was a trio coach Dave Lowry assembled back at summer camp.

The attention to Crouse, Strome and Marner, who have scored a combined 49 goals and 135 points in 72 games this season, allowed Brandon Wheat Kings forward Jayce Hawryluk to slip back on the ice under the radar Friday.

Hawryluk, a Florida Panthers prospect, sustained an upper-body injury and missed his past three Western Hockey League games. The 19-year-old hadn't skated in a week before arriving for the Canadian junior selection camp Thursday.

"I wanted to give myself the best shot at making the team and obviously to have an injury doesn't help that," Hawryluk said. "But you have to push through. I felt a bit rusty, but it's nice to get the legs going again."