“Canada needs its stars to show up. Fraser Minten, who started the year with the Maple Leafs, has just one goal and two points. Jordan Dumais – the CHL whizkid coming off a 140-point campaign in the QMJHL – has just one assist. Matthew Savoie has had his chances, with just one assist to show for. Brayden Yager was invisible against the Finns and had just one shot against Sweden. Macklin Celebrini is the clear No. 1, leading the way with six points in three games.

Nobody else has more than three, with two of the team’s depth players – Carson Rehkopf and Owen Allard – being among the five two-goal scorers. Nobody else has more.

Speaking of Rehkopf, what does he have to do to get more playing time? He’s on pace for a 65-goal season with Kitchener. Rehkopf scored twice in the drubbing over Latvia, but played just 4:50 against Sweden. He started as the 13th forward, and fought his way onto the fourth line, but coach Alan Letang needs to see what he can do higher in the lineup.

And Letang deserves some blame here. The lines felt off from the get-go. For example, Minten and Cowan are playing two-way roles on scoring lines, and it’s not working. Letang should have stacked that top six earlier than they did. Give Celebrini shooters to work with – reunite the U-18 World Championship scoring duo of Celebrini and Matthew Wood, and maybe add Rehkopf as the third option. Celebrini has played with both separately, but I’d almost guarantee they’d be the team’s most dangerous line if put together for a game.

I suppose it is the perils of having one of the deepest player pools to choose from. No matter the year, you’ll have fans screaming for a national summit with every world junior loss. At least Mathis Rousseau’s goaltending has been solid, because that was a serious question mark during the pre-tournament.”

– Steven Ellis, Daily Faceoff