Johnson named to USA roster for World Juniors

Ryan Johnson has been selected to Team USA's roster for the IIHF World Junior Championship, which will be held in a competition bubble in Edmonton beginning Dec. 25.
Johnson, a first-round pick (31st overall) by the Sabres in 2019, has four assists in six games this season as a sophomore at the University of Minnesota - already halfway to his 37-game mark as a freshman.

The defenseman was one of the final cuts made from Team USA's roster for last year's tournament, an experience he said motivated him.
"It was tough not to make it," Johnson told Sabres.com in May. "Being cut right before they traveled to Europe was tough. Obviously, I wanted to represent my country. But at the end of the day, it's just a learning lesson that you just constantly need to work. You never know what's going to happen. All you can control is how you respond to it and how hard you work. It definitely offered me some fuel for trying to make it this year and also the rest of my season after that."
Johnson is one four Sabres prospects who will participate in the tournament, joining fellow first-round picks Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn of Canada and 2020 second-round pick J-J Peterka of Germany.