Jake Oettinger tops U.S. World Junior camp roster

Boston University freshman goaltender Jake Oettinger, who could be the first goalie picked at the 2017 NHL Draft, was among the 27 players invited to a selection camp for the United States for the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, USA Hockey announced Monday.
The camp will be held at HarborCenter in Buffalo, New York, from Dec. 16-20. The roster includes 16 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders.
"We really wanted guys we think can play the mobile system that [U.S. coach] Bob Motzko wants to play," U.S. general manager Jim Johannson said. "Bob wants to play attacking hockey and that means, defensively, we've got to get in people's face the whole time. The days of just brute, physical hockey are gone. You have to be mobile, fast and be able to get to loose pucks, take away space. I think that's what we hope our defense will do for us."

Johannson said the key player on defense will be Boston University sophomore Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins).
"Not to put too much on one guy but I think he's the horse back there," Johannson said. "But I think combined as a group there's good skating. We need guys who can move the puck up to a talented forward group, guys who can play high-percentage hockey."

Oettinger and McAvoy are two of seven players invited to the camp from Boston University. Joining them will be defenseman Chad Krys (Chicago Blackhawks), and forwards Patrick Harper (Nashville Predators), Jordan Greenway (Minnesota Wild), Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes) and Kieffer Bellows (New York Islanders).
The U.S. will have a final training camp in Ontario from Dec. 21-24, where the 23-player tournament roster is expected to be set. The U.S. will play exhibition games against Switzerland in Oshawa, Ontario, on Dec. 21 and the Czech Republic in Kingston, Ontario, on Dec. 23.
Oettinger (6-foot-4, 212 pounds) is 6-4-2 with a 1.92 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in 12 games. Johannson said there's a good possibility all three goalies make the final roster.
"I think in net we have three really strong goaltenders, guys who are off to really good starts," Johannson said.
There will be nine first-round draft picks at the selection camp: McAvoy (No. 14, 2016), Keller (No. 7, 2016) and Bellows (No. 19, 2016), and forwards Luke Kunin (Wild, No. 15, 2016), Brock Boeser (Vancouver Canucks, No. 23, 2015), Colin White (Ottawa Senators, No. 21, 2015), Logan Brown (Senators, No. 11, 2016), Jack Roslovic (Winnipeg Jets, No. 25, 2015) and Tage Thompson (St. Louis Blues, No. 26, 2016).

In addition to Oettinger, a B-rated goalie on NHL Central Scouting's players to watch list, defenseman Jack Ahcan of St. Cloud State University is the only other 2017 draft eligible player invited to camp. Ahcan was not selected in the 2016 draft.
Motzko will have five players at camp who played on the 2016 WJC team that won the bronze medal in Finland: Krys, McAvoy, Boeser, White and forward Alexander DeBrincat (Chicago Blackhawks).
Also announcing their selection camp rosters Monday were
Sweden and Finland
Canada announced its camp roster Nov. 29
.
Russia released its roster Dec. 1
.
The 2017 WJC will be held in Toronto and Montreal from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, 2017. The U.S. opens play against Latvia in a Group B preliminary-round game at Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Dec. 26. Also in Group B are Canada, Russia and Slovakia.
Group A consists of Sweden, Czech Republic, Denmark, Switzerland and Finland, the defending gold medalist. They will play preliminary-round games at Bell Centre in Montreal.

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USA HOCKEY SELECT CAMP ROSTER

GOALIES: Jake Oettinger, Boston University, H-EAST (2017 draft eligible); Tyler Parsons, London, OHL (Calgary Flames); Joseph Woll, Boston College, H-EAST (Toronto Maple Leafs)
DEFENSEMEN: Jack Ahcan, St. Cloud State, NCHC (2017 draft eligible); Joseph Cecconi, Michigan, BIG10 (Dallas Stars); Casey Fitzgerald, Boston College, H-EAST (Buffalo Sabres); Adam Fox, Harvard, ECAC (Calgary Flames); Caleb Jones, Portland, WHL (Edmonton Oilers); Chad Krys, Boston University, H-EAST (Chicago Blackhawks); Ryan Lindgren, Minnesota, BIG10 (Boston Bruins); Charlie McAvoy, Boston University, H-EAST (Boston Bruins)
FORWARDS: Joey Anderson, University of Minnesota, H-EAST (New Jersey Devils); Kieffer Bellows, Boston University, H-EAST (New York Islanders); Brock Boeser, North Dakota, NCHC (Vancouver Canucks); Jeremy Bracco, Kitchener, OHL (Toronto Maple Leafs); Logan Brown, Windsor, OHL (Ottawa Senators); Alexander DeBrincat, Erie, OHL (Chicago Blackhawks); Erik Foley, Providence, H-EAST (Winnipeg Jets); Jordan Greenway, Boston University, H-EAST (Minnesota Wild); Patrick Harper, Boston University, H-EAST (Nashville Predators); Clayton Keller, Boston University, H-EAST (Arizona Coyotes); Luke Kunin, Wisconsin, BIG 10 (Minnesota Wild); Tanner Laczynski, Ohio State, BIG 10 (Philadelphia Flyers); Jack Roslovic, London, OHL (Winnipeg Jets); Troy Terry, Denver, NCHC (Anaheim Ducks); Tage Thompson, Connecticut, H-EAST (St. Louis Blues); Colin White, Boston College H-EAST (Ottawa Senators)