Eight Devils prospects make preliminary WJC rosters

The New Jersey Devils have eight prospects on preliminary rosters of five countries participating in the 2018 World Junior Championship, which starts Dec. 26 at Key Bank Arena in Buffalo.

Teams have moved on from training camps and are in the midst of exhibition games to prepare for the tournament and finalize their rosters. They have until Dec. 25 to announce their 23-man rosters, but most teams plan to make final cuts by the 24th.
Joey Anderson -- USA
Joey Anderson, 19, who was selected by the Devils in the third round of the 2016 NHL Draft, was recently named captain of this year's Team USA.
"I wish I could steal him," said USA's head coach Bob Motzko, who is also the head coach at St. Cloud State University, a conference rival of Anderson's Minnesota Duluth. "He can kill penalties, plays on the power play, he plays so hard, has a great personality. He's just a guy that you can play all over and he'll accept anything you throw at him. He's the kind of guy that everyone wants on their team."
After missing most of November with an upper-body injury, Anderson thinks he's playing better after the injury than he was before and hopes to carry that momentum to Team USA as they look to defend their title on home soil.
"I want to bring an all-around game," Anderson said. "I want to be very responsible defensively and set a tone by playing hard against other teams and help generate offense and create space for the guys I'm playing with. It's not necessarily about doing more, but being more assertive with what I do. I obviously want to be more defensive-minded in my play and contribute more offensively, but I've got very talented teammates around me, so there's no pressure to change my game or feel like I have to do it all for us to be successful."
Reilly Walsh - USA
Reilly Walsh, who was selected in the third round this past June, is known as an offensive defenseman, but is looking to show a more well-rounded game in hopes of making the cut on Team USA's blue line.
"I can contribute on the power play and all the other stuff I've been doing at Harvard, but I've been trying to show that my defensive game is just as strong," Walsh said, "that I'm reliable in my own zone and that I'm not just an offensive defenseman and that I have more dimension to my game.
"I feel like I've gotten better each day here and I'm looking to keep building on that every day for as long as I'm with the team. I definitely still have a lot of room for improvement, but having this kind of start is what I was hoping for."
Motzko is most impressed with the confidence and poise with the puck Walsh has, even though he played high school hockey last season and only has 10 NCAA games under his belt.
"We have a very difficult decision on the blue line, because they're all stepping forward and Reilly is no exception," he said. "He's probably the best example of where it's not a matter of which player is better, but more of which player is best to work with the other pieces of this team and how that all fits together in the end. These are not easy questions to answer."
Regardless if Walsh makes the team, he's soaking up as much as he can from the experience.
"The coaches here are really good and a lot of these players are going to be in the NHL pretty soon," he said. "So I've just been trying to take in as much as I can and learn to play this fast, puck-moving style - It's different from college - and play at a pace that's higher than I've been playing at and being uncomfortable and getting used to that is something I've learned a lot from and will be able to take away from this experience, no matter what."
Michael McLeod - Canada
Michael McLeod, who was selected 12th overall by the Devils in 2016, will represent Team Canada for the second year, but is expected to have a bigger role than the 13th forward spot he filled last year.
"He has the experience of the tournament now and is a more mature player," Dominique Ducharme, head coach of Team Canada, said of the 19-year-old Mississauga, ON, native. "He can bring a lot of speed and has a physical part of his game and he's got offense and is good on faceoffs and can kill penalties. We can use him in a lot of different ways."
While McLeod's intentions at the start of the season were to make it to the NHL and play for New Jersey, he sees the silver lining in being able to play on this team and have the opportunity to improve his game amongst the best of his peers. He doesn't want to just make the team, he wants to have an impact.
"I want to be a big part of the team, whether that be killing penalties and a strong two-way forward or helping out on the power play and generating offense or whatever they need," he said. "I just want to be a leader on the team and help win the championship. It's always fun to play for your country and I know we want to get back at USA after losing the gold last year."
Yegor Zaitsev - Russia
Yegor Zaitsev, who was drafted in the sixth round this past June, will captain Team Russia as he did last month during the Canada-Russia Super Series.
"International games are always important. They always show where you are," the 19-year-old Moscow native said through a translator. "I need to do everything faster because of the smaller rink. You need to think faster, move faster, shoot the puck faster. Everything is just faster. It was good to play at a higher level on a smaller rink to learn that and prepare for this tournament."
The defenseman for Dynamo Moscow of the KHL plays a hard game, is aggressive in his own zone, makes calm decisions with the puck and doesn't make a lot of mistakes. As captain of this team, he hopes to lead by example.
"The players are old enough that they don't need any special advice," he said. "It's easy to be captain of this team because all the players are disciplined and ready to do their jobs to help the team win. I don't need to do a lot. Of course, there are a lot of expectations and you feel the responsibility because you know everyone in Russia is watching and you want to play well and make them proud, but we all feel that and know what we need to do."
Mikhail Maltsev - Russia
Mikhail Maltsev, who was selected by the Devils in the fourth round in 2016, will likely center Russia's top line, drawing on his strength and his skill to generate offensive chances.
"My job is to pass the puck to my linemates. They are very fast, me not," the 19-year-old from St. Petersburg said with a smile. "I want to be faster, but it's not my style so I play physical and do the hard work and make passes for my teammates to score. I am good in the corners and getting the puck to them. I'm not scoring a lot - maybe I can score here - but my linemates are better at it."
Maltsev also played in the Super Series against Canada and said the experience helped him feel more confident heading into the World Junior Championship.
"I wanted to make this team because it's my last year and the last chance to show my skills," said the forward for SKA St Petersburg of the KHL. "Those games helped me get better and know what I need to do here to help the team win."
Jesper Boqvist - Sweden
Jesper Boqvist, who was drafted in the second round this past June, broke his wrist in early September and has only played in four games since having it surgically repaired with plates and screws.
"When they told me how long my recovery would be, I immediately counted the weeks on the calendar because I wanted to make it back in time to be on this team at this tournament," explained the 19-year-old from Falun, Sweden. "After six weeks in the hard cast, they gave me a soft cast and I started doing wrist exercises six times a day and I saw a hand therapist in Stockholm every week to track my progress. I was in the gym twice a day, working on different stuff so I would be ready to play as soon as it got better. It was really hard, but I was motivated."
All that time in the gym is paying off as Sweden's head coach, Tomas Monten, has noticed an improvement in his conditioning since the World Junior Summer Showcase in Michigan this past August.
"He's better conditioned now. I think he's stronger. He's always had speed, but he can keep his speed longer and is more than just explosive," he said. "We know what his skills are. We just need to see if he's got his timing back and can play 60 minutes in these tough [exhibition] games on smaller ice to be able to contribute like we know he can at this tournament."
Boqvist hopes to use his speed and his offensive creativity to help Sweden advance to the medal games, but he's also going to be relying on his improved strength.
Fabian Zetterlund - Sweden
Fabian Zetterlund, who the Devils selected in the third round this past June, is known as a power forward who can crash the net and shoot the puck. That aggressive attack has gotten the 18-year-old from Karlstad, Sweden, into trouble as of late in the form of suspensions, something Monten has already spoken to him about.
"He's really tough and he works hard and we like that, but when I invited him to camp, I told him he had to slow down because if he's suspended it carries over to this tournament and he cannot play," he said. "Plus, we don't want him taking those penalties here during the tournament either."
Instead, Monten hopes the forward from Farjestads of the SHL will fill the role of "Mr. Everything" for Sweden at the World Junior Championship.
"He's really big. He's strong. He can play on an offensive line because he's got a great shot and can score, but he can also play on the fourth line and be an energy, grind kind of guy," he said. "He plays on the power play, sometimes on the PK. He's a very complete player. We can use him anywhere we need him."
Marian Studenic - Slovakia

Marian Studenic, who was drafted in the fifth round this past June, represented Slovakia at this tournament last year, but wasn't strong enough to utilize his offensive skills the way head coach Ernest Bokros would have liked.
"He's an offensive player, so we expected him to put up points last year, but he wasn't ready with his conditioning to be successful in that role at this level," he explained through a translator. "We haven't played any exhibition games yet so I don't know for sure, but his conditioning seems to be much better this year. He is winning more battles in practice."
Both Studenic and his coach are hopeful he will have more of an offensive impact this year.
"I think it was a great experience for me as a younger guy last year," said the 19-year-old from Holic, Slovakia. "It's a higher level. The players are really fast and they're really, really smart and make good decisions really fast, so it was hard last year, but I learned a lot and am more ready this time."
Over the past year, Studenic, who plays for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL, has been focusing on the details of his game.
"Now in the NHL, there's not a lot of difference between the skill of the players," he said. "It's the details that cause separation, so I want to have good habits and be better with the details. I'm also trying to use my speed because I think I'm a pretty good skater and I'm trying to use it along the boards and go to the net and score some goals or pass to my teammates so they can score goals. I just try to make plays and see what happens.