LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Centers Dylan Larkin and Axel Holmstrom are representing different countries during the United States National Junior Development Camp, but they might one day be teammates with the Detroit Red Wings.

U.S. National Junior Team center Larkin, a first-round pick (No. 15) in the 2014 NHL Draft, and Sweden's Holmstrom, a seventh-round pick (No. 196) in 2014, are two of six Detroit prospects at camp this week. Center Dominic Turgeon (2014, No. 63) joins Larkin for the United States and Christoffer Ehn (2014, No. 106) joins Holmstrom for Sweden. Forward Julius Vahatalo (2014, No. 166) and defenseman Vili Saarijarvi (2015, No. 73) represent Finland.

"The credit goes to our amateur scouts; they've done a tremendous job drafting players we feel all have the potential to be NHL players one day," Red Wings assistant general manager Ryan Martin said.

CALGARY -- As the youngest player at Canada's national junior team summer development camp, Julien Gauthier is out to prove age is but a number.

"It doesn't change anything, I think," the 17-year-old forward said at WinSport's Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park. "It's just that I'm the youngest guy on the team. All the guys are like, 'Oh wow! You're only a 2016 eligible draft? You're going to be good.' It's nice to hear that."

In his rookie season as a 16-year-old with Val-d'Or of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2013-14, Gauthier had eight goals and 29 points in 62 games.

He earned the invite to Canada's camp following an impressive second season with Val-d'Or. In 68 games, the Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec, native had 38 goals and 73 points, then scored five goals and had five assists in 17 playoff games.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Don't tell goaltender Brandon Halverson he has a good shot at being named starter for the United States at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Finland, to be played from Dec. 26, 2015 through Jan. 5, 2016.

Halverson, picked in the second round (No. 59) by the New York Rangers in the 2014 NHL Draft, is the only goalie at this week's USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp with experience at the prestigious tournament. He was the backup to Vancouver Canucks prospect Thatcher Demko at the 2015 WJC, and earned a 6-0 victory against Germany with 14 saves in his only start.

Halverson, who became the first Rangers draft pick in franchise history to earn at least 40 wins in a season of junior hockey with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the Ontario Hockey League, has made 34 saves on 38 shots in two exhibition games for the United States at the evaluation camp.

"I've been here and backed up [Demko] at the World Junior tournament last season," Halverson said. "For me, it doesn't really matter right now. I'm just trying to focus on playing the best I can every game because these are all new coaches, new players. Last year was last year and it doesn't matter and I think I have to re-prove myself. I really want to show everyone that I can be the starting goalie."

CALGARY -- The sting still resonates for New York Islanders prospect Michael Dal Colle.

It remains as painful as the day he, forwards Rourke Chartier and Jason Dickinson, and defenseman Haydn Fleury were the final cuts for Canada prior to last year's World Junior Championship.

Canada won the tournament for the first time since 2009, and Dal Colle watched and wondered.

"I was rooting for them," Dal Colle said this week at WinSport's Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park. "I was happy for a lot of my friends that I grew up playing with. There was a ton on that championship team. I was very happy for them. But it was tough; I can't lie, being so close. And the goal as a kid is to play in that gold-medal game. Hopefully I get the chance this year."

Dal Colle is one of 39 players at this year's Canada national junior team summer development camp, along with Fleury and Chartier.

"We always talk to guys, and there's no better way to learn than to live it," said Canada coach Dave Lowry, who was an assistant last year. "Those guys have lived through the disappointment, and you hope they take it and channel it the right way and come out and prove to us they're worthy of a spot this year."

CALGARY -- Lawson Crouse was looking for any opportunity to play for Canada at the 2015 World Junior Championship.

As one of two players in Canada's camp eligible for the 2015 NHL Draft, Crouse, 17 at the time, had one mission: bull his way on to the final roster.

"Going in, I was just there to do whatever I could to make that team," Crouse told NHL.com. "I was there with the attitude that I was going to stick and if not, make it hard for the coaches to send me home. I guess I just went in with a positive attitude and tried to get better each and every day. I'm glad it paid off. It led to the gold medal, which was a surreal experience for myself and something I'll remember for the rest of my life."

CALGARY -- Canada's goaltending situation at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship is a long way from being determined.

But the three goaltenders participating in Hockey Canada's national junior team summer development camp aren't shying away from making it known that they're up for the task of defending World Junior gold.

"It would mean everything," said Mason McDonald at WinSport's Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, hoping to be the starter for the tournament that starts Dec. 26, 2015 and runs through Jan. 5, 2016 in Finland. "It's something I've dreamed of ever since I was young. It's what I've worked the last few summers for. I've thought about it so much. I'm just really excited to have the opportunity this week."

CALGARY -- Prior to stepping on the ice to kick off Hockey Canada's national junior team summer development camp Saturday, the 39 players invited to participate were first shown a video.

It depicted the "Canadian way."

Though the opportunity to defend World Junior gold is months away, the process has already started and those auditioning for a spot on the roster that will represent Canada at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Helsinki, Finland, from Dec. 26, 2015, through Jan. 5, 2016, got the message.

"In that video, Sidney Crosby was asked about what the Canadian way meant to him," said forward Jake Virtanen at WinSport's Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. "He said it was every guy buying into the systems and every guy is going to be a good player on their club teams, important players to their teams, but every guy has to check their ego at the door and buy in, and no one's going to be above the team. You put the team before yourself.

"That's a pretty cool message from him and seeing that on video from him was pretty cool."

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Despite being one of the most heralded coaches in the history of USA Hockey, Ron Wilson has never once had an opportunity to visit the historic Lake Placid Olympic Training Center.

He'll get that chance as coach of the United States National Junior Team when he leads 39 invitees to USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp from Aug. 1-8 here at Lake Placid Olympic Center's 1980 Herb Brooks Arena.

The invitees will be auditioning for spots on the team that will represent the U.S. at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Helsinki, Finland, from Dec. 26, 2015, through Jan. 5, 2016.

"I've never been to Lake Placid, so I'm also looking forward to it," Wilson told NHL.com. "We'll be in the big building, and there's a lot of history there and everybody still talks about the 1980 Olympic team, so we're going to actually be able to live and breathe the same air those guys did, and that's a long time ago.

"That's going to be the fun part for me; that's the same building that Herb Brooks' team played in."

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- When Ron Wilson watches center Auston Matthews on video, he sees a player already good enough for the NHL.

Wilson, coach of the U.S. National Junior Team, now looks forward to the opportunity of seeing the 17-year-old live and in person during the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center from Aug. 1-8. Matthews and 38 other players are auditioning for a chance to represent their country at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Finland from Dec. 26, 2015, through Jan. 5, 2016.

"He's only 17 but he can see the ice so well and he moves the puck and goes to the open ice all the time, so I just think he's a player that is ready to play in the NHL," Wilson said. "I'm really looking forward to coaching someone like this."

CALGARY -- With Canada's national men's summer under-18 team selection camp underway Friday, coach Stan Butler and his staff are looking to build a roster that will head to Bratislava, Slovakia and Breclav, Czech Republic from August 10-15 in search of an eighth straight gold medal finish at the 2015 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.

"The biggest thing for us right now is to make sure as a group that we pick the right players," Butler said from WinSport's Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. "It's a short-term competition and we don't have a lot of time for evaluation but once we make the evaluation, we don't have a lot of time for teaching either. Hopefully you pick the right guys and give them what they need to do and you hope the skill takes them the rest of the way."