Team USA’s goaltending will be ‘the biggest question mark’ at the 2022 World Juniors
As usual, Team USA is full of talent. The reigning 2021 gold medalists are looking to repeat themselves as champions when the 2022 World Junior Championships begins in Edmonton.
Going through their roster, it’s hard to overlook the wealth of NHL draft picks they have. The entire defensive group was drafted, as was every forward except Hunter McKown.
And then we come to the goalkeeper, where not a single one of the three in the squad has been drafted.
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“They have a really strong group of defenders, I think they have enough scoring depth up front,” said NHL Network’s EJ Hradek when discussing the structure of Team USA. “The question will be where they are in goal.”
Coach Nate Leaman’s team goes into the tournament without a clear starter on the net. The trio who will take on the duties are Kaiden Mbereko, Andrew Oke and Remington Keopple. Only Mbereko is a returnee from the squad that played during the canceled tournament in December.
Drew Commesso was expected to return as a starting goaltender this summer. The Blackhawks’ 2020 second-round pick not only stopped Team USA in December, but also played for his country at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
However, Commesso is not on the list, and neither is Dylan Silverstein, the other goalkeeper who completed December’s group at the net. That leaves up to three goalkeepers who haven’t drafted and come from very average seasons.
“That’s the biggest question mark for me going into the game with Team USA, who will come out of the circle and how well will they play,” said Hradek.
Why isn’t Drew Commesso playing at World Juniors 2022?
Commesso’s decision not to join the US squad caused quite a stir. He was the clear starter in December and isn’t aiming to make it to the Blackhawks this fall, the club that drafted him in 2020. Instead, he returns to Boston University for his junior year.
However, it was reported that it was his choice not playing in Edmonton and leaving Team USA in the net with no clear answer.
Who is Team USA’s starting goaltender?
The simple answer is: there is no clear No. 1 goalkeeper per se.
Mbereko will be the guy in goal to start the tournament. The Colorado College team played with the Lincoln Stars in the USHL last season and posted a record 18-11-3 with 3.01 GAA and 0.898 SV%. He started USA’s exhibition game against Slovakia where he stopped all 13 shots he faced.
“One of those three guys will show up. I think Mbereko is probably the most likely guy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of the three keepers,” said Hradek.
I’ve seen this tournament enough times…great goalkeepers can play badly in a short tournament and goalkeepers we never hear from again end up having a great tournament and leading their team to something special.
Oke seems to be next in line to replace Mbereko. He played the third period against Slovakia, making five saves from six shots. Oke stopped the Saginaw Spirit in the OHL with a 13-16-1 with a 4.63 GAA and .848 SV%.
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Koepple is the third option. Cornell University’s commitment ended the 2021-22 season with a 13-20-2 record with the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers. He posted a 3.06 GAA and 0.893 SV% and also added two shutouts.
The bottom line is that none of them are Commesso. But that’s okay. As Hradek said, all it takes is one keeper to get hot at the right moment and steal a game or two and that could be enough to win a medal in a tournament like this.
Has Team USA ever won gold with an undrafted goalie?
We’re not here to discourage US fans from thinking a gold medal isn’t in sight. It certainly is as the rest of the squad is extremely extensive and rivals any other country at the tournament.
However, if you look back at the five American teams that have won gold medals in World Junior Championship history, all five had sensational goaltenders in the net.
Most recently, it was Spencer Knight, a Panthers first-round draft pick, who led the team back to gold in 2021. He capped his tournament with a shutout in the gold medal game against rivals Canada.
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In 2017 it was Tyler Parsons at the net, a second-round pick for the Flames, who was in the midst of his third great season in the OHL with the London Knights. John Gibson, the longtime Ducks starter and second-round pick, was the team’s goaltender from 2013 and had been a US starting goaltender at the Under-17 and Under-18 levels in previous years, progressing with the US national development program.
Mike Lee was on the net for the team’s 2010 win and although he ultimately never made the NHL, he was selected by the Coyotes in the third round and was a promising newcomer to St. Cloud State at the time after a solid USHL career. 6th draft pick in 2004, Al Montoya helped Team USA win their first gold in 2004 after also going through the national program.
That’s not to say it can’t be done, as undrafted goalies have helped other countries before. But whether it was Mbereko, Oke or Koepple, they would be the first undrafted goaltenders to win gold for USA at the World Juniors.