Four first-round picks invited to Russia WJC camp

Four first-round NHL draft picks were among the 34 players invited to Russia's training camp for the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Goaltender Ilya Samsonov, selected by the Washington Capitals with the No. 22 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, and forward German Rubtsov, picked by the Philadelphia Flyers at No. 22 in the 2016 draft, are two of the 28 players that will attend a camp in Novogorsk, Russia starting Dec. 8.

In 18 games with Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the Kontinental Hockey League, Samsonov has 11 wins, a 2.14 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage. Rubtsov has three shots on goal in 12 games with Podolsk in the KHL, and 15 points in 15 games with Chekhov in Russia's junior league.
Six players skating in North America will join the camp when it moves to Kingston, Ontario, Dec. 19-24. Among them will be defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and forward Denis Gurianov.
Sergachev, selected by the Montreal Canadiens with the No. 9 pick in the 2016 draft, was in their opening-night lineup, and was a plus-1 in three games before being returned to his junior team, Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League. He has seven assists in 11 OHL games.
Gurianov, the No. 12 pick in the 2015 draft by the Dallas Stars, has three goals and six assists in 19 games with Texas of the American Hockey League.
Russia will play in Group B at the WJC, which runs Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Toronto and Montreal, along with Canada, Latvia, Slovakia and the United States.

RUSSIA WJC CAMP ROSTER

GOALTENDERS: Anton Krasotkin, Yaroslavl 2, RUS-JR (2017 draft eligible); Ilya Samsonov, Magnitogorsk, RUS (Washington Capitals), Vladislav Sukhachyov, Chelmet, RUS-2 (2017 draft eligible)
DEFENSEMEN: Artyom Chmykhov, CSKA, RUS (2017 draft eligible); Grigory Dronov, Magnitogorsk, RUS (2017 draft eligible); Kamil Fazylzynov, Nizhnekamsk 2, RUS-JR (2017 draft eligible); Vadim Kudako, Cherepovets, RUS (2017 draft eligible); Ruslan Petrishev, Ufa, RUS (2017 draft eligible); Yegor Rykov, St. Petersburg, RUS (New Jersey Devils); Mikhail Sergachev, Windsor, OHL (Montreal Canadiens); Mikhail Sidorov, Kazan, RUS (2017 draft eligible); Artem Volkov, Balashikha 2, RUS-2 (2017 draft eligible); Yegor Voronkov, Chekhov, RUS (2017 draft eligible); Mikhail Yepishin, Chekhov 2, RUS-JR (2017 draft eligible); Sergey Zborovskiy, Regina, WHL (New York Rangers)
FORWARDS: Denis Alexeyev, Ryazan, RUS-2 (2017 draft eligible); Artem Artemov, Novosibirsk, RUS (2017 draft eligible); Kirill Belyayev, Khanty-Mansiysk 2, RUS-JR (2017 draft eligible); Denis Gurianov, Texas, AHL (Dallas Stars); Roman Ivashov, Yekaterinburg 2, RUS-JR (2017 draft eligible); Kirill Kaprizov, Ufa, RUS (Minnesota Wild); Pavel Karnaukhov, CSKA, RUS (Calgary Flames); Nikita Korostelev, Sarnia, OHL (Toronto Maple Leafs); Mikhail Kotlyarevsky, Ufa, RUS (2017 draft eligible); Danila Kvartalnov, CSKA, RUS (2017 draft eligible); Nikita Li, Spartak, RUS (2017 draft eligible), Mikhail Maltsev, SKA St. Petersburg 2, RUS-JR (New Jersey Devils); Alexander Polunin, Yaroslavl, RUS (2017 draft eligible); German Rubtsov, Podolsk, RUS (Philadelphia Flyers); Iakov Trenin, Gatineau, QMJHL (Nashville Predators); Artur Tyanulin, Ottawa, OHL (2017 draft eligible); Kirill Urakov, Nizhny Novgorod, RUS (2017 draft eligible); Mikhail Vorobyov, Ufa, RUS (Philadelphia Flyers); Danil Yurtaikin, Ryazan, RUS-2 (2017 draft eligible)