Avs Prospects Head To World Junior Summer Showcase

Colorado Avalanche 2017 NHL Draft picks Cale Makar and Conor Timmins will take part in Hockey Canada's summer development camp, which begins with practices this weekend at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan.
The Canadians will train in the United States and participate in five exhibition games next week at the World Junior Summer Showcase against the U.S., Finland and Sweden. The annual summer camp is a precursor to December's training camp, where Canada's final roster for the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship will be decided.

This year's World Juniors will be held in Buffalo, New York, from Dec. 26, 2017 to Jan. 5, 2018.
Team Canada begins exhibition play with a split squad on Tuesday, where Canada Red will play USA White (2 p.m. MT) while Canada White plays USA Blue (5 p.m. MT). The country's 39-player roster will then be trimmed down to one team for contests on Wednesday against Finland (11 a.m. MT) and Friday versus Sweden (11 a.m.) before a Saturday matchup with Team USA's final roster on Aug. 5 (5 p.m. MT) to close out the camp.
Canada has practices scheduled for Sunday, Monday and Thursday, as well as morning skates on game days.
Makar's only experience with Team Canada has come at the last two years' World Junior A Challenge with the Canada West Under-19 squad. The Avs' 2017 No. 4 overall draft choice captained the squad last year and recorded eight points (four goals and four assists) in four contests.
Committed to play at UMass next season, Makar is coming off a stellar campaign with the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. The defenseman recorded 75 points (24 goals and 51 assists) in 54 regular season games before adding 16 points (five goals and 11 assists) in 13 playoff contests, helping the Bandits win their second-straight league title. The native of Calgary, Alberta, picked up AJHL regular season and playoff MVP honors and was named the Canadian Junior Hockey League Player of the Year, the same award that Jost had earned the season prior.

If Timmins makes his home country's squad for the World Juniors, it will mark his first experience with Hockey Canada. The St. Catharines, Ontario, native registered 61 points (seven goals and 54 assists) in 67 contests during his second season with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League in 2016-17. He went on to add a goal and seven assists in 11 OHL playoff outings before the Greyhounds were eliminated in the second round by the Owen Sound Attack.
Timmins was the first player selected on the second day of the June entry draft, as the Avalanche used the No. 32 overall pick on the 6-foot-1, 185-pound blueliner.

Avalanche forward Tyson Jost was also invited to take part in Canada's summer camp but will not participate. He was on Canada's squad that earned a silver medal at last season's World Junior Championship.
NHL Network will provide live television converge of the Summer Showcase beginning on Wednesday, which includes Canada's three full-squad contests. HockeyTV will provide live streaming for the early contests.
UPDATE: This story was updated on Monday, July 31, 2017, to reflect that Tyson Jost will no longer attend Hockey Canada's development camp or the World Junior Summer Showcase.