Leafs prospects Marner, Dermott named to final Canadian World Junior Roster

It’s official- the Maple Leafs will see two of their own wearing a different Maple Leaf this holiday season.

A pair of Leaf prospects- Mitch Marner and Travis Dermott- were named to the final roster for the upcoming World Junior Championship kicking off this Saturday in Helsinki, Finland.

While Marner was considered a lock from beginning of this season due to his OHL dominance with the London Knights, Dermott battled his way through to earn one of the team’s final roster spots. Marner appears to be playing on one of the team’s top-two lines with Dylan Strome and returnee Lawson Crouse, while Dermott has been playing with a number of partners- and that’s more likely to change moving forward as today’s cuts will break up a few pairings. Dermott and Marner both saw significant power play time in the team’s two pre-tournament contests. In yesterday’s matchup, both Marner and Dermott contributed goals, while Dermott added a pair of assists as well. 

With 7 defencemen on the roster, there will be significant competition for ice time. 

Canada plays their first game Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern against the United States. As always, you can catch it on TSN.