McGroarty to put friendship with Fantilli aside during World Juniors

Wednesday was the third day of USA Hockey selection camp to help determine the final 23-player roster for the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship to be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Moncton, New Brunswick, from Dec. 26-Jan. 5.
The camp, which includes four goalies, nine defensemen and 16 forwards, runs through Saturday.

PLYMOUTH, Mich. --
Rutger McGroarty
knows just how talented his teammate at the University of Michigan, Adam Fantilli, is.
But McGroarty, a Winnipeg Jets prospect working for a spot with the United States at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, also wants to make it clear that if Fantilli, who will play for Canada at the tournament, stands between him and a possible gold medal, it may get dicey.
"If you're going into a gold-medal game, U.S. vs. Canada, you don't want to have any regrets ... I think it's best if you don't talk to each other," McGroarty said. "Obviously at Michigan we're teammates and we're really good buddies. But I know for him as well, if we see each other and if I'm coming down the middle, he'll want to light me up and I'll want to light him up.
"I think that's just both of our competitive natures, so we will not have any communication during the tournament. We'll pick it up again in January."
Fantilli (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) is likely to be a top-three pick in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft. The 18-year-old center leads Michigan and is tied for third among NCAA players with 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 16 games.
"I think he's the best and has the potential to go No. 1," McGroarty said. "I think you see it every single day in Michigan. He takes over games. He wins games for us. He's one of the best players in the world in his age group, and I think his domination every single game is unbelievable. He'd be hard to turn down."
Here are fourother things learned at select camp Wednesday:

Gauging Gauthier

Cutter Gauthier
(Philadelphia Flyers) is willing to do whatever it takes to earn a roster spot for the tournament.
Gauthier leads Boston College in Hockey East with 16 points (10 goals, six assists) in 13 games playing mostly center. But he's been skating on the wing during select camp and hasn't missed a beat.
"We've had him at left wing at camp, but I think he can play both," U.S. coach Rand Pecknold said. "I had a conversation with him and he told me, 'Coach, I'll do whatever you want, play wherever you want.' I talked to him for a while and I told him right now we've got him at left wing, but we know he can play center, so we'll play it out a little bit and see how things work."
Daniel Briere, Flyers special assistant to the general manager, is here this week keeping an eye on Philadelphia's top prospect.
"That versatility is huge because he's a guy that can come in and play different positions with many different players, different roles," Briere said. "I think we're really excited that he's showing that he's not just kind of a one-dimensional player. That's the exciting part about Cutter."

Other Wolverines defenseman earning praise

Seamus Casey
(New Jersey Devils) might get overshadowed by his University of Michigan teammate and fellow defenseman,
Luke Hughes
(New Jersey Devils), but Casey has established himself as another top-notch player during select camp.
"Camp has been so competitive and I really like all the all the stuff we're doing, our systems," Casey said. "I think the No. 1 thing we're bringing every day is that compete. Every guy. So it makes it makes it easy when everyone's working hard to be on the same page."
Casey (5-foot-9, 162 pounds) is second among Michigan defenseman with 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 20 games this season. Hughes is first with 18 points (three goals, 15 assists) in 20 games.
"Seamus is really deceptive on the blue line and can beat guys off the point," Hughes said. "Obviously he's really offensive, but he's pretty good defensively too."
Casey, a right-handed shot, knows he'll need to increase his strength to succeed at the next level.
"The only thing he's giving up is strength and size, but that'll come with physical maturity and being in the weight room," Michigan interim coach Brandon Naurato said. "He's already got it with the puck, and he'll keep getting better. It's similar to how [Hughes] took a backseat to Owen Power (Buffalo Sabres) last season, in a good way. Seamus takes a backseat to Luke this year. But as long as he's at Michigan, he will be running the power play and running our offense from the blue line."

Roster trimmed

Three players were cut from the camp Wednesday, defenseman
Aidan Hreschuk
(Columbus Blue Jackets) and forwards
Cameron Lund
(San Jose Sharks) and William Smith (2023 draft eligible).
Smith received an A rating from NHL Central Scouting in its preliminary players to watch list presented by BioSteel. The center (6-foot, 178 pounds) leads the USA Hockey National Team Development Program with 47 points (18 goals, 29 assists) in 26 games.

U.S. to have Quinnipiac feel

Pecknold said he won't stray too far from the strategy he's employed during his 29 seasons as coach at Quinnipiac University, during which he's won 581 games, second among active NCAA coaches.
"A lot of the systems we're going to play (with the United States), the identity and the style, is very similar to what we do at Quinnipiac, and obviously we've had a lot of success with that," Pecknold said. "It's a different type of tournament, a younger age. We certainly will have an identity and have systems in place, but we also need to make sure that we don't overcomplicate things."
Pecknold was named ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year after Quinnipiac won its second straight ECAC regular-season championship in 2021-22. The Bobcats reached the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time and seventh time in the past nine seasons a tournament was held.
"It's one of Rand's greatest strengths ... everybody knows what Quinnipiac does, they just do it really well," said U.S. assistant coach Reid Cashman, a defenseman for four seasons at Quinnipiac under Pecknold (2003-07) and then was an assistant on his staff (2011-16). "He's coaching the way he knows how to have success, which is how Quinnipiac plays. There's nuances, certainly, and he's very open to adding and discussing things. But the core of what USA Hockey is going to be and this team, the relentlessness and detail, is the same core that his college teams have."
Photo: Michigan Photography

USA HOCKEY SELECT CAMP ROSTER

GOALIES: Trey Augustine, USA U-18, NTDP (2023 eligible); Kaidan Mbereko, Colorado College, NCHC (2023 eligible); Tyler Muszelik, New Hampshire, NCAA (Florida Panthers); Andrew Oke, Saginaw, OHL (2023 eligible)
DEFENSEMEN: Sean Behrens, Denver, NCAA (Colorado Avalanche); Shai Buium, Denver, NCAA (Detroit Red Wings); Seamus Casey, Michigan, NCAA (New Jersey Devils); Ryan Chesley, Minnesota, NCAA (Washington Capitals); Luke Hughes, Michigan, NCAA (Devils); Lane Hutson, Boston University, NCAA (Montreal Canadiens); Luke Mittelstadt, Minnesota, NCAA (2023 eligible); Jack Peart, St. Cloud State, NCAA (Minnesota Wild); Ryan Ufko, Massachusetts, NCAA (Nashville Predators).
FORWARDS: Jackson Blake, North Dakota NCAA (Carolina Hurricanes); Gavin Brindley, Michigan, NCAA (2023 eligible); Tyler Boucher, Ottawa, OHL (Ottawa Senators); Kenny Connors, Massachusetts, NCAA (Los Angeles Kings); Logan Cooley, Minnesota, NCAA (Arizona Coyotes); Jack Devine, Denver, NCAA (Florida Panthers); Dylan Duke, Michigan, NCAA (Tampa Bay Lightning); Cutter Gauthier, Boston College, NCAA (Philadelphia Flyers); Noah Laba, Colorado College, NCAA (New York Rangers); Ryan Leonard, USA-18, NTDP (2023 eligible); Samuel Lipkin, Quinnipiac, NCAA (Coyotes); Chaz Lucius, Manitoba, AHL (Winnipeg Jets); Rutger McGroarty, Michigan, NCAA (Jets); Redmond Savage, Miami University, NCAA (Detroit Red Wings); Jimmy Snuggerud, Minnesota, NCAA (St. Louis Blues); Charlie Stramel, Wisconsin, NCAA (2023 eligible)