Former first-rounder left off Finland's roster for 2024 World Juniors
The 2024 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship gets underway in exactly two weeks and participating nations are beginning to share their rosters for the tournament, which will be held in Sweden.
On Tuesday, Finland, who is coming off a disappointing fifth-place finish last year, revealed their roster, with only a couple of cuts needing to be made before Boxing Day.
Surprisingly, Nashville Predators 2022 first-round pick Joakim Kemell has been left off of Finland's roster despite being at the previous two tournaments.
Interestingly, Joakim Kemell is not on the roster. #WorldJuniors #U20fi" Lassi Alanen said.
It's unclear as to why Kemell has not been named to Finland's roster. It's possible that the Nashville Predators want him to remain with their AHL club in Milwaukee for development purposes since he's already played at the tournament twice.
Kemell, 19, has appeared in 21 games for the American Hockey League's Milwaukee Admirals this season, putting up 14 points (five goals, nine assists), eight penalty minutes and is a minus-two.
The Kemell-less Finland is set to be in Group A at the 2024 World Juniors where they'll face Canada (December 26th), Germany (December 27th), Latvia (December 29th) and Sweden (December 31st) before the playoff round gets underway on January 2nd.
| POLL | ||
Who will win the gold medal at the 2024 World Juniors? | ||
| Canada | 191 | 50.4 % |
| United States | 96 | 25.3 % |
| Sweden | 44 | 11.6 % |
| Finland | 48 | 12.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
