What was already going to be a good week got even better for St. John's native Alex Newhook on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old Newfoundlander, seen as an almost-certain first-round pick in Friday's National Hockey League Entry Draft, was one of 43 players invited to Canada’s world junior team summer development camp in late July, the first step in selecting a roster for this country’s entry at the 2020 world junior championship in the Czech Republic.
Newhook has represented Canada internationally before, playing for Team Canada West at the 2017 world under-17 championship and tying for the Canadian scoring lead with 10 points in seven games at the most recent world U18 tournament. A spot on the 2019 world junior team would be the next progression for the St. John’s native, who spent the last two years with the Victoria Grizzlies of the British Columbia Hockey League and is set to attend Boston College in the fall.
NHL Central Scouting has Newhook ranked 13th among North American skaters for the draft, but some projections have him making his way into the top 10 picks.
Newhook, a left-shooting centre who was the Grizzlies’ captain last season, led the BCHL with 102 points (38 G, 64A) last season and was named the league’s most valuable player and later selected the MVP in all of Canadian junior A hockey.
The July 27-Aug. 4 Canadian summer development camp is actually being held in the United States, in Plymouth, Mich., where the Team Canada invitees will be divided into two teams and play four exhibition games, two against the Americans and one each against Finland and Sweden.
Twitter: @telysports
