Detroit Red Wings

The Daily: Red Wings’ Prospect Will Help Lead Canada at WJC

Published

2 years ago

August 3, 2022

The Detroit Red Wings have plenty of reasons to appreciate the intangibles prospect defenseman Donovan Sebrango offers. Now they have another one.

Team Canada named Sebrango as an alternate captain for the rescheduled World Junior Championships. Mason McTavish (Anaheim Ducks) is the team captain and former Michigan player Kent Johnson (Columbus Blue Jackets) is the other alternate.

Goalie Sebastian Cossa will also play for Canada. He wasn’t the starter when the tournament started in December. But he had a strong second half and playoff run. Will he play now for Canada?

Sebrango, 20, will be playing his third season with the Grand Rapids Griffins because COVID-19 wiped out one of his junior seasons. He seems to have benefitted from that. He’s not an elite prospect, but the Red Wings like his commitment to being a shutdown defenseman, leader and a player who is difficult to play against.

Rescheduled Tournament

“It’s pretty obvious that I’m not gonna be an offensive guy at the next level,” Sebrango said. “I think being gritty is something I really pride myself on and being a shutdown guy, being able to shut down their top players. The AHL is a good league and it got better from my first year to my second year. As the year goes on, you kind of learn more and just kind of learn little tricks to kind of help you along the way.”

The WJC, scheduled for August 9-20 in Alberta, is the makeup event for last season’s WJC. It was cancelled after it started because of COVID-19 issues.

The Red Wings have nine prospects in the tournament if projections hold true. In addition to Sebrango and Cossa, the Detroit group includes:

USA: Carter Mazur, Red Savage; Sweden: William Wallinder, Theodor Niederbach, Simon Edvinsson; Finland: Eemil Viro; Czechia: Jan Bednar.

(Marco Kasper was on Austria’s team in December, but the latest roster didn’t show him on the team. He said in Detroit last month he wasn’t sure whether he would play or not.)

Captains for #WorldJuniors… 🇨🇦

C: Mason McTavish (@HEOhockey)
A: Kent Johnson (@BCHockey_Source)
A: Donovan Sebrango (@OHFHockey)

Hear from Captain Canada! 🗣️👇 pic.twitter.com/OXvrPsNRmj

— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) August 2, 2022

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