Opinion | Leafs prospect Ryan Tverberg, who developed late and played late, earned his spot in youth draft camp.

CALGARY – You’d be hard pressed to find someone happier than Richmond Hill’s Ryan Tverberg to be among the 34 players who skate at Canada’s world youth team camp.

The Maple Leafs prospect is a rarity in camp – he plays in the US college system and has never been to a Hockey Canada event. He was selected in the seventh round of the 2020 draft. He was barely on Hockey Canada’s radar until his current breakout season at the University of Connecticut, where he has nine goals and seven assists in 14 games.

“It was fantastic,” Tverberg said of receiving a call from Hockey Canada. “This is not a call you expect from the university. So it’s good to be recognized. “

Canada’s world youth team leans heavily toward players in the senior junior ranks, though defender Owen Power, the top pick in the 2021 draft, and forward Kent Johnson, the fifth pick currently on the COVID-protocol. 19, are notable exceptions. But as first-round players, the University of Michigan teammates were expected to receive invitations to camp.

The presence of Tverberg, a 19-year-old forward who played for Toronto Jr. Canadians two seasons ago, speaks volumes about how he is viewed. Especially with forwards Matthew Savoie, the top scorer in the WHL, and Jacob Perreault, a first-round player from Anaheim, not among the 34.

“The first thing it shows is that the management group left no stone unturned,” Canadian coach Dave Cameron said. “We met weekly and we evaluated the players. The names are listed and we move them up and down based on performance.

It can be safely assumed that Tverberg is in the bubble. When Canada plays a couple of games against U Sports all stars this weekend, they’ll be on the right wing with center Elliot Desnoyers, a Flyers prospect, and left winger Joshua Roy, a Canadiens prospect.

“I don’t know if I could use the term late, but if you follow Ryan’s career, a few years ago he probably wasn’t even on the radar,” Cameron said. “But it’s that late, he’s just been a good player, with a consistent work ethic. The most important thing we know about him is that he plays the same way, regardless of the time in the game, of the score. in the game, whether at home or away. ”

If anyone is happier than Tverberg about the invitation, it could be the Leafs main office, which may have found a last-minute gem.

“It’s a huge boost of confidence, an invitation to a world youth camp when maybe it wasn’t something you expected,” said Hayley Wickenheiser, the Leafs’ senior director of player development. “For a kid like Ryan, what’s so interesting or so nice to see is that he spent a whole summer of training with our staff in Toronto every day, training with Leafs players, Marlies players.

Ryan Tverberg has nine goals in 14 games for UConn this season.

“He got a little better, and then going to school and having a great start like the one he got is just a testament to his work ethic.”

Tverberg said that, when he was a younger player, he felt like he was playing a little more like Mitch Marner, a playmaker. But as he got older and bigger (he’s 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds), he got more physical.

“I’m trying to be a hard hitting player, a guy on any line,” Tverberg said. “I just try to play a high energy game and I just try to do my best and play the situations, as I can, as hard as I can.”

His versatility will be his strength if he is to make the Canadian roster, according to UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh.

“He’s a scorer,” Cavanaugh said. “Ryan can come off the wing and hit you clean with his shot. He’s also not afraid to go to the dirty areas and get rebounding goals and deflections and that sort of thing. He’s a great goal scorer, but he’s also a tremendous penalty shootout killer. And I think one of the things that attracted him to Canada was his speed. If you ask him to be on the fourth line, he will play a physical and energetic role. “

For now, Tverberg is soaking in it all and meeting new people as his emerging talent opens new doors.

“This is very new to me,” he said. “A lot of these guys have done these camps in Canada all the time and this is my first. So this is kind of a reveal, but so far it’s been great. “