Finally, some good news for fans of Team Canada and the Vancouver Canucks to come out of their World Junior camp. The Bobfather, TSN’s Bob McKenzie, confirmed that Owen Sound Attack forward and Canucks 2017 second-round draft pick Jonah Gadjovich survived the final round of releases and will suit up for Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships.

Gadjovich, 19-years-old, was considered something of a bubble player going into the season. In fact, I would’ve granted Kole Lind a better shot at making the team than Gadjovich even a week ago. Funny how that’s worked out.

To Gadjovich’s credit, it’s no fluke — he’s earned the spot. The book on Gadjovich was that he was great along the boards and in front of the net, but that he had to improve upon his skating. There’s work left to be done on the skating front, but he’s taken strides in that department, certainly.

Playing mostly on the Attack’s second line this season, Gadjovich has remained steadily productive. In 21 games with the OHL’s Attack, Gadjovich has 26 points (15 goals and 11 assists) and has been a shot generation machine. The nearly 5.5 shots per game Gadjovich is averaging is second only to Owen Tippett among OHL skaters.

The 2018 World Junior Hockey Championships start December 26th in Buffalo. Canada faces off against Finland on the opening day at 1 PM Pacific. CanucksArmy will be providing coverage of the tournament from puck drop to the final horn.