UMass freshman defenseman Scott Morrow will represent the United States at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship after making the final roster announced Tuesday.
Morrow, a Darien, Connecticut, native, was a second round pick in this summer’s NHL Draft. He’s second on UMass with 15 points, accumulating six goals and nine assists.
The Carolina Hurricanes prospect is tied for third in the nation in points per game for defensemen (1.00), leading freshman blue liners in the category.
He’s one of 25 members of the roster, 20 of whom currently play college hockey. UMass freshman goalie Luke Pavicich was also invited to the training camp in Plymouth, Mich., but wasn’t included on the final roster.
UMass has sent a representative to four of the past five World Junior championships. Zac Jones represented the USA in 2020, while Filip LIndberg won a gold medal for Finland in 2019. Cale Makar also picked up gold with Canada in 2018.
The tournament will run Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in western Canada. Team USA opens Dec. 26 against Slovakia at 9:30 p.m. on NHL Network, which will broadcast all USA games live.
UMass wrapped up its first half of the season with an overtime win against Merrimack. The Minutemen don’t take the ice again until New Year’s Eve against Union. They don’t expect to have Morrow for that series, but he’ll likely be able to return for their two-game series against Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Jan. 8-9 even if the U.S. reaches the medal rounds.