Canada defenseman Noah Juulsen keeps it simple

MONTREAL -- Defenseman Noah Juulsen arrived at Canada's National Junior Team selection camp having the best offensive season of his junior hockey career.
In 25 games with Everett of the Western Hockey League, Juulsen had already matched his junior career high of nine goals and had 20 points, giving him a 0.8 points-per-game average, also a career best.

There is little doubt when looking at those numbers that Juulsen's offensive game is maturing. But when you talk to him about it, "offense" is a word that rarely gets used.
Instead, the word Juulsen prefers to focus on is "simple." It's one he used four times in two minutes when asked to describe his game and his approach to his first IIHF World Junior Championship.
"I just come into the game, keep it simple and play my game," Juulsen said. "Don't do anything that I wouldn't do in a normal game. So just keep it simple and play my game out there."
That must be music to the ears of Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin, who took Juulsen with the No. 26 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft and watched him and the Canada junior team play against a team of Canadian university all-stars during the selection camp.

A defenseman from the WHL who prefers the simple play instead of the flashy one, and still can produce offense and provide a steady hand on defense must seem familiar to Bergevin; he acquired someone else who fits that description, Shea Weber, from the Nashville Predators on June 29 for defenseman P.K. Subban.
It is obviously far too early to be making comparisons to Weber, but Juulsen does appear to be cut from roughly the same mold. At 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, Juulsen is a long way from being quite as physically imposing as the 6-foot-4, 232-pound Weber, but the mindset and approach to the game appear very similar at this stage of his career.
"He's not a flashy guy, he's going to give you the nitty gritty details," said Ryan Jankowski, Hockey Canada's director of player personnel. "He'll do those things that help you win games."
Juulsen, 19, is being pushed by Everett coach Kevin Constantine to add more offense to his steady defensive game, and he appears open to it. But it is clear by listening to him that Juulsen knows his success eventually will come through his work in his own end.
"Coming in at 16 [years old] I didn't really get the opportunity to play power play and that stuff," Juulsen said. "But coming in at 17, I got more opportunity, and then 18 and now 19. Throughout the years, they've encouraged me to be more offensive with my game.
"Growing up, I was more of a stay-at-home defenseman, but it's an adjustment I'm willing to make. I think it's a good adjustment for my game. They've given me the green light to go when I want it. So when I want to go, I just go."
Juulsen is playing on the right side of Canada's second defense pair with Carolina Hurricanes prospect Jake Bean.
"He's a physical defenseman, a guy who can face the best players on the other team," Canada coach Dominique Ducharme said. "I just like how he works."
Juulsen's parents will be in attendance when he plays his first game for Canada on Monday at Air Canada Centre against Russia. But Juulsen didn't give them the green light to book the trip until the final roster was announced, even though he entered selection camp as a virtual lock to make the team.
That kind of humble attitude is sure to sound good to Bergevin as well, and the Canadiens appear to be playing close attention to their prized prospect. Already this season, Juulsen says Canadiens director of player development Martin Lapointe and development coach Rob Ramage have visited with him twice in Everett, just north of Seattle, and have plans to visit him a few more times in the New Year.
"It's nice," he said. "They'll come in for the weekend and we'll go get a bite to eat and just hang out a little for an afternoon."

Juulsen has played in two preseason games at Bell Centre with the Canadiens during the past two years, and his face lit up when asked about the experience of playing in front of that crowd.
"It's pretty unreal," he said.
So just imagine how unreal it would be for Juulsen to be playing for a world junior championship in that same rink on Jan. 5 for Canada, and celebrating a victory in front of many of the same fans he hopes to play for in the near future.
It would be a sight Juulsen, and Bergevin, would surely love to get used to.