Tonight Patrik Laine and the Finns will be taking on Team North America. However the second overall pick at the 2016 Entry Draft in Buffalo will not be facing his future Jets teammates Jacob Trouba and Connor Hellebuyck. According to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports Trouba will be a scratch for Team North America this evening and Craig Custance of ESPN reported that Hellebuyck wouldn’t suit up.
This will be the third time that Michigan native Jacob Trouba has sat for his squad after not playing on September 11 against Team Europe and September 14th vs. the Czech Republic.
He has played in just one pre-tournament game when Team North America defeated Team Europe 4-0 in Quebec City back on September 8th to open play in the World Cup of Hockey. Trouba had 18 minutes and five seconds of ice time with four hits and blocking two shots.
There has been some discussion as to whether playing in this tournament could help or hinder the RFA’s contract negotiations with the Jets but that point appears to be moot if he doesn’t play in any games.
The six other defencemen for Team North America are Aaron Ekblad, Shayne Gostisbehere, Seth Jones, Ryan Murray, Colton Parayko and Morgan Rielly.
The North American squad next plays Team Russia on Monday. Depending on tonight’s result it will be interesting to see if Trouba can crack this lineup.
In addition to Jacob Trouba sitting, goalie Connor Hellebuyck who is seen as the third goalie for North America, won’t suit up for the contest against the Finns. Of course Jets fans can take heart that they will still be able to see Mark Scheifele suit up on the top line with Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews.
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