Why aren’t Shane Wright, Matty Beniers playing at the 2022 World Juniors? Full list of notable omissions from the tournament

World Juniors 2022 is expected to resume but some significant names will be absent from the tournament. Prospects such as Owen Power, Shane Wright, Matty Beniers and Jake Sanderson will not be in Edmonton for this portion of the competition.

As always, each team needs to go through and make some cuts for their final lineup. However, these World Juniors will be the most diverse of all previous tournaments in terms of personnel.

Due to the unique timing of the competition, some players will skip the event. Some players have decided to focus on upcoming NHL training camps and don’t want to risk an injury, others are coming off longer playoff runs that led straight into NHL development camps and will use August to take a breather.

While Edmonton will still see many of the best teenagers competing, certain teams will definitely feel the loss of their absent players more than others.

MORE: Schedule, Scores, Results for all World Juniors 2022 games

Here’s a look at the notable players who will not be present at World Juniors 2022.

Notable players not participating in World Juniors 2022

Canada

Of all the teams competing in the World Juniors, perhaps no team will lose as much star power as Canada. A total of nine players from the December team will not be in Edmonton this August, including their captain and two assistants.

Striker Xavier Bourgault, Mavrik Burque, Dylan Gunther, Jake neighbors, Cole Perfetti, Justin Saudif, Wright and defense attorneys Kaiden Guhle and Power are all absent from Canada’s roster. Perfetti and Neighbors both previously announced they would not be taking part in the tournament. Guhle, Guenther and Sourdif are still recovering from injuries. The rest will probably focus on the upcoming NHL fall training camps and use August as a break.

Of course, Canada’s supply of prospects is never empty, and while the losses of some like Perfetti, Neighbors, Wright, Guhle and Power will hurt more than others, they will still be one of the tournament’s top teams.

MORE: Top 10 NHL prospects attending World Juniors 2022

United States of America

The United States is bringing back most of the same roster as December but will be without their No. 1 forward, No. 1 defender and No. 1 goaltender.

beniers, Sanderson and Drew Commesso All opted against playing for Team USA in the restarted event. Beniers and Sanderson come as no shock as it’s very likely they’ll be on the NHL rosters by the start of the season in October.

Commesso’s decision not to join the US squad raises some eyebrows as he was previously the clear starter and returns to Boston University for his junior year this fall. However, it was rreported that it was his choice not playing in Edmonton.

Slovakia

Sure, Canada and the United States losing to some of their best players are tough blows, but the depth that both countries have is so abundant that it shouldn’t really affect either team the a lot of.

That’s not the case with a country like Slovakia and their youth side will suffer this August. Forward Juraj Slafkovsky, Filip Mesar and Martin Chromiak, as well as defender Simon Nemec, will all miss World Juniors 2022. Slafkovsky and Nemec finished 1st and 2nd overall for the Canadiens and Devils respectively in the 2022 NHL Draft, while Mesar was later acquired by the Canadiens in the first round. Chromiak is a 2020 fifth-round pick by the Kings.

Slafkovsky and Nemec aren’t total surprises as they will be battling for their NHL rosters this fall. Mesar’s absence is intriguing, but it was reportedly a personal decision on his part to skip World Juniors. Chromiak made headlines with two goals against USA during the canceled December tournament but is absent for August’s tournament due to health reasons.

Sweden

Sweden will be without two of their best players from the original December squad in William Eklund and Alexander Holtz have decided not to join the Swedish junior team in Edmonton.

Eklund, the No. 7 pick in the Sharks’ 2021 NHL draft, was part of the preliminary pick Sweden released in July. However, after meeting San Jose, he decided to instead prepare for training camp to score in San Jose’s NHL roster.

The same goes for Holtz, who was picked 7th overall by the Devils in 2020. The forward has already competed in the 2020 and 2021 World Juniors and was late picked into the 2022 first squad in December with permission given by the Devils. Now in the same boat as Eklund, he is focused on the upcoming training camp where he hopes to make the Devils’ top squad.

MORE: Full rosters for all 10 teams at World Juniors 2022

Finland

The Finns bring back a lot of power from the December version of their squad. However, Joel Blomqvist is the most notable gap on the net.

Long regarded as the best-in-class goalie, the Penguins draft pick fell out of favor with Finland’s coaching staff for failing to play in either game last winter. Blomqvist revealed in an interview in June that the coaching staff felt he preferred the NHL to the national team and was therefore not included in their roster.

He had an extremely strong end to the 2021/22 season and should have at least competed with Leevi Merilainen for the starting role.

Switzerland

The Swiss have enough fighting ahead of them for the 2022 tournament. Now they have to play without their probably best player from the December squad.

Lian Bichsel, who was drafted 18th overall by the Stars in the 2022 draft, will not participate in the World Juniors. Despite being invited, the defender was not present at any of the national team’s selection camps this summer. While Bichsel expressed interest in joining the team for the Edmonton tournament, Switzerland chose not to include him in the squad as he was not at any of the World Juniors preparation camps.

It’s a heavy blow not just for the blue line but for the entire team, but Switzerland’s coaching staff insisted on not making exceptions for any player. As a result, Bichsel will sit back in Switzerland and watch his compatriots play in Edmonton.

MORE: Why won’t Russia take part in World Juniors 2022?

Austria

Like Switzerland, Austria faces an uphill battle at the World Juniors and will lose two of their best players at the tournament. Marco Kasper, who was captain of the team in winter, and Vinzenz Rohrer will not be attending the event this August. Kasper was drafted #8 by the Red Wings in the 2022 NHL draft, while Rohrer was selected in the third round by the Canadiens this summer.

When the Austrian Ice Hockey Association made its squad announcement, it was Added organization that “Marco Kasper and Vinzenz Rohrer will take a break in August due to the high workload of the last few months.”