Johnny Gaudreau headed to Worlds for Team USA; Adam Fox a possibility?

A Calgary Flames superstar is headed to Europe for the World Hockey Championship, and he may be accompanied by one of the club’s top prospects. According to a report by Craig Custance of The Athletic citing an NHL source, Johnny Gaudreau has decided to represent USA Hockey at the upcoming World Championship in Denmark. Custance floated the possibility of Adam Fox potentially playing in the tournament as well.

Gaudreau told media on Monday during Garbage Bag Day that he was weighing his options and was going to spend time with his father, who’s recovering from a cardiac episode, but seemingly he’s decided to don the red, white and blue once more. He’s previously represented Team USA at the 2011 Hlinka Memorial Tournament, the 2013 World Juniors (winning gold), the 2014 World Championship and the 2017 World Championship. He also donned the black and orange of Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Custance has an interesting player listed as a “Maybe” on his roster projection: Harvard University sophomore (and 2016 Flames third round pick) Adam Fox. Fox was just named a First Team All-American for the second straight season and has a stellar record of (a) representing USA Hockey at international events and (b) winning medals. He’s won medals at the Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the Under-18 Worlds and two World Juniors, so competing at the Worlds would continue a streak of sorts. He’s been one of the top defensemen in all of American college hockey and while he opted to return to school for his junior year, heading to the World Championship would be a big challenge for him and expand his game.

In other World Championship news, Mikael Backlund will be suiting up for Sweden but Michael Frolik declined an invite from the Czech Republic. The Worlds run May 8-20 in Copenhagen and Herning, Denmark.