Buffalo Sabres defensive prospect Ryan Johnson has been named to the United States' 25-man roster for the upcoming 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship later this month in Edmonton, Alberta.
Johnson makes the U.S. roster for the 2021 tournament after just missing out in 2020. Last year in the Czech Republic, the Americans did not fare so well, finishing sixth overall in the tournament after a quarterfinal round loss to Finland.
The first round pick (31st overall) of the Sabres in the 2019 NHL Draft did not have the most productive season last year with just eight assists in 37 games as a freshman at the University of Minnesota. However, he's off to a decent start in the 2020-21 season with the Golden Gophers, where he already has four assists in six games.
Johnson is among nine defensemen named to the U.S. roster for the 2021 World Juniors tournament, and is one of three former first round picks on the blue line. The other two first rounders heading to camp for the Americans includes Philadelphia Flyers prospect Cam York (2019) and Ottawa Senators prospect Jake Sanderson (2020).
Overall, the U.S. has eight players returning from last year's World Juniors roster, including former first round picks in goaltender Spencer Knight (Florida Panthers), York, and forwards Cole Caufield (Montreal Canadiens), Alex Turcotte (Los Angeles Kings) and Trevor Zegras (Anaheim Ducks). In total, the United States has nine former first round picks in the NHL Draft on the roster for the upcoming tournament.
The U.S. will get its pre-tournament schedule started on Sunday, Dec. 20 against Switzerland. The Americans will also play Finland on Tuesday, Dec. 22 before kicking off their 2021 World Juniors against Russia on Christmas Day at 7:30 p.m. EST.
All of Team USA's games will be broadcasted on NHL Network.
Johnson joins Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn (Canada) as Sabres prospects to make their respective rosters for the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship this December and January.
Meanwhile, 2020 second round pick J-J Peterka is likely to make Germany's roster for the World Juniors after making the roster last season. They have one more roster spot to cut as of Saturday.