Sabres goalie prospect was selected by Team Canada for 2024 World Junior squad.
The news in the hockey world slows to a crawl in the month of July unless you are talking about prospects in line to play for their respective countries for the 2025 World Junior Championships in Ottawa next December. Some countries announced rosters for their summer camps last month, but Team Canada unveiled their 42-man roster earlier this week and Buffalo Sabres prospect Scott Ratzlaff is on the list.
The 19-year-old Ratzlaff was selected in the fifth round (141st overall) in the 2023 Draft by the Sabres after putting up a 25-8-1 record with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL. Last season, the 19-year-old put up more pedestrian numbers this season (21-26-2, 3.33 GAA, .905 save percentage) as the primary starter for the rebuilding WHL club. He was also the third goalie for Canada at the World Junior Championships in Sweden last December but did not see any playing time.
Other goalies selected by Canada were Philadelphia Flyers ’23 draft pick Carson Bjarnason, Los Angeles Kings ’24 second-rounder Carter George, and 17-year-old Joshua Ravensbergen
Bjarnason started for Canada at the Under 18’s in 2023, and George did the same in 2024 but based on his age and his being selected as the third-stringer behind Samuel St-Hilaire and Mathis Rousseau last year that likely has Ratzlaff in the best position to be Canada’s starter in December.
Other Sabres prospects that will be in the mix for different countries and will be participating in the World Junior Summer Showcase later this month include 2023 third-rounder Gavin McCarthy (Boston University), 2024 second-rounder Adam Kleber (committed to Minnesota-Duluth), and 2024 third-rounder Brodie Ziemer (committed to Univ. of Minnesota) for the United States, and 2024 first-rounder Konsta Helenius (Jukurit-SMLiiga) for Finland.
