Marner and Dermott to Represent the OHL in the Canada/Russia Series

It may not be much of a surprise but the two highest drafted Leafs prospects from the 2015 Draft have been selected to participate in one of junior hockey’s biggest showcases outside of the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Corey Pronman has reported that both Travis Dermott and Mitch Marner will be playing for the OHL next month against the Russian team.

So far this season Travis Dermott has been off to a bit of a slow start picking up 4 assists in his first nine games with the Otters. After Dylan Strome, Dermott has the highest estimated time on ice of any Erie player, and the highest amongst defensemen.

Mitch Marner’s scoring pace has also slowed from last season, partly because of adaptation to his new role as center. Marner has 10 points in his first 7 games, but is behind Matthew Tkachuk, J.J. Piccinich, and Christian Dvorak in scoring.

The OHL games also offer an opportunity to get a look at highly touted 2016 draft prospects Logan Brown, Michael McLeod, Nathan Bastian, and Jakob Chynchrun. The WHL and QMJHL have also announced their rosters and while no Leafs prospects are present, Julien Gauthier, Zach Sawchenko, Pierre Luc Dubois, Carter Hart, and Kale Clague are all names worth watching. Brayden Point as well if you ready to get pumped for the 2017 Draft.

Team Russia has not yet announced their roster, but when they do it’s highly likely that Nikita Korostelev will be on it. We can expect that to happen at some point this week.

The tournament itself runs from November 9th- November 19th and the full details can be found here. This is probably the best opportunity for Team Canada World Juniors bubble player like Dermott to make his case for being on the team, and likely that will also be true of Korostelev for Russia. Marner’s a lock, don’t worry about him.