Canada finalized its roster for the 2024 world juniors on Wednesday.

The two-time defending champions are set to begin their tournament on Dec. 26 against Finland. This year's tournament will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Canada named 12 forwards, seven defensemen, and three goalies to its roster. The team is hopeful Zach Benson of the Buffalo Sabres or Matt Poitras of the Boston Bruins will be loaned, according to TSN's Darren Dreger. Both players are enjoying strong rookie seasons in the NHL, and if their respective clubs opt to keep them in the pros, Canada can pull a 13th forward from the CHL.

Here are the 22 players Canada selected:

Forwards

Beck is the lone returnee from Canada's 2023 roster up front. The Montreal Canadiens draft pick entered the tournament as an injury replacement and managed one assist in three games.

Celebrini is widely considered to be the top prospect in the 2024 NHL Draft. The Vancouver product has 25 points in 15 games for the Terriers this season.

Defense

Luneau has split his 2023-24 campaign between the Ducks and their AHL affiliate after a prolific QMJHL career with the Gatineau Olympiques. He was a second-round pick in 2022.

Bonk, Molendyk, Lamoureux, and Mateychuk were all first-round picks in 2023 or 2022.

Goalies

Ratzlaff is the lone netminder of Canada's trio to be drafted. He was a fifth-round selection of the Sabres this year and is 8-10-1 with an .889 save percentage this season with the Thunderbirds.

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Matt and Blake discuss a 4-1 win over Tampa, a high-water mark of 10 games over .500, a hat trick for Brock Boeser and his season to date, more brilliance from Quinn Hughes and his (and J.T. Miller's) pursuit of the scoring lead, a sensational game for Thatcher Demko, a good night for the penalty kill unit, and those blasted too many men penalties. Other topics include the latest wrinkle in a proposed Canucks' practice facility, Ethan Bear signing elsewhere, trade interest in Andrei Kuzmenko, Craig Berube fired in St. Louis, and Bill Belichick out in New England?

Former Canucks president/GM Mike Gillis joins to talk everything Roberto Luongo: his captaincy, excellence, style makeover with Rollie Melanson, ceding the crease to Cory Schneider, his contract sucking, his trade, the Stromebone1 Twitter account, and not starting the Heritage Classic game.

Frank Corrado joins to explain the scissors play that Hughes, Kuzmenko and Boeser executed beautifully in Tuesday's game. Frank talks about Boeser, Hughes, Luongo, and how too-many-men penalties happen. Presented by Applewood Auto Group.

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Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor will miss six-to-eight weeks with the injury he sustained on a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Strome on Sunday, the Jets announced, according to team reporter Sara Orlesky.

The Jets placed Connor on injured reserve while recalling Dominic Toninato earlier Wednesday. Connor already missed Tuesday's game against the San Jose Sharks.

He ranks among the NHL leaders in goals with 17 and entered Wednesday tied with Mark Scheifele for the team lead with 28 points in 26 games.

Strome wasn't suspended for the hit. He got a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Connor left Sunday's contest and didn't return following the collision early in the second period.

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St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong had a lot of sleepless nights in the days leading up to his decision to fire head coach Craig Berube.

"I haven't really slept much since the Columbus game (on Friday)," Armstrong admitted in a press conference Wednesday. "Then the Chicago game (on Saturday) was a sleepless night, and then you hope that (Tuesday's) Detroit game will be different. But your mind is starting to work when you're everybody's homecoming game. It's not a good feeling.

"The last three games, I shared with the leadership group that when you get up and you read the clippings the next day, the players from the opposition, the coaches, are (saying) 'What a character win, what a gutsy win, I can't believe we did that last night, we're undermanned, we played the night before against a rested team.' So if they feel that way about their performance, how would we feel about our performance?"

The Blues announced they'd fired Berube hours after Tuesday's 6-4 defeat at the hands of the Red Wings, the latest loss in a four-game skid that has St. Louis sitting in sixth place of the Central Division with a 13-14-1 record.

For Armstrong, one of the main factors missing from the Blues' game is consistency.

"It's uncomfortable when you go to the arena every night and you're not really sure what your team is going to look like. ... That's something we haven't felt here for a long time," he said.

Dating back to the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign, the Blues are 25th in points (108) and points percentage (.491), while their power play (16.5%) and penalty kill (74%) rank within the bottom five.

Berube piloted St. Louis' turnaround in 2018-19, which led to the team's unlikely Stanley Cup championship. Despite that success, Armstrong felt a shakeup was necessary.

"The definition of insanity: Keep doing the same thing and think things are going to change," he said. "It cost a great man his role on the team because things weren't changing."

The executive didn't absolve himself of any wrongdoing, saying he feels "personally responsible" for the Blues' current situation.

"You come to an organization because you make it better and you want to leave it in a better spot. ... If I get fired in the next hour or I get hit by a bus in the next hour, I don't feel today I've left it any better than where I found it, and that's an awful feeling," he said.

Drew Bannister is currently serving as the interim head coach. Armstrong said there's no timeline on finding a permanent replacement for Berube, but he'll be looking for candidates who compete and exemplify accountability.

The GM also announced the Blues have brought in former NHLer Brad Richards as a consultant to help out with their sputtering power play.

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Tuesday was a tough night on the ice. After sweeping our player props to begin the week, all three of our bets Tuesday fell short - two by a single shot - to bring us back to .500 through two days of action.

We'll look to get back on track with three more player props for Wednesday's card.

Jack Hughes: Over 4.5 shots

We've targeted Hughes time and time again in recent weeks with great success. His shot volume has been high all season long, but he's taken it to another level since returning from injury, particularly at home.

Hughes has generated 37 shots on 60 attempts in just five games. That equates to 7.4 shots and 12 attempts per contest, which is the highest volume you'll see from anybody in the NHL. He's firing on all cylinders right now.

A date with the Bruins doesn't seem like the best matchup on the surface. The numbers tell a different story. They've conceded 32.9 shots per game over the last 10, which is more than all but five teams.

Boston is also missing some key personnel. Top defenseman Charlie McAvoy is sidelined with an injury, as is one of the team's better centers in Pavel Zacha.

With Hughes shooting at an unmatched rate and McAvoy not around to try and shadow him, I expect another big offensive performance in this one.

Odds: +103 (playable to -135)

Frank Vatrano: Over 3.5 shots

Vatrano is sizzling-hot. He's registered at least four shots in seven of his past 10 games, averaging 4.3 on more than seven attempts per night.

Vatrano faced a top-tier team in each game he fell short, recording two shots against the Avalanche (twice) and three against the Kings.

Put another way, Vatrano consistently did the job against anything less than high-end competition. The Islanders certainly don't classify as such, at least defensively.

They've bled shots all season long, and things are only getting worse. The Islanders rank dead last in shots against - at five-on-five and across all game situations - over the last 10 games. They've won games on the back of their offense and goaltending, not defense.

Vatrano should have ample opportunity to shoot from anywhere in the offensive zone against this Islanders defense. Look for him to make the most of a pace-up spot.

Odds: +100 (playable to -120)

Rasmus Dahlin: Over 2.5 shots

The Sabres and Avalanche both play very fast. Their team speed pops off the screen, and the numbers back it up. Buffalo and Colorado are each in the top seven in five-on-five pace - gauged by the combined shot volume generated and allowed - over the past 10 games. Lots of skating, lots of shots.

That should bode well for Dahlin. He's an effortless skater who's always ready and willing to get up in the play offensively.

Dahlin has recorded at least three shots in six consecutive games, logging at least 25 minutes in four of them.

The Sabres are leaning on him heavily as they try and dig their way out of a big early-season hole. With a hefty workload coming in a high-pace matchup, Dahlin is in a prime spot to go over his total for a seventh straight contest.

Odds: -102 (playable to -125)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ToddCordell.

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