Drummondville Voltigeurs forward Sean Couturier got an early Christmas present in being the lone 2011 NHL Entry Draft eligible player to be named to Canada’s roster for the World Junior Championship.

And there’s no shock the Bathurst, NB native retains his ranking a top Future Considerations’ ranking for the 2011 draft.

Couturier, who has 16 goals and 52 points in 32 games, will have some elite company in Buffalo.

Three of the top four prospects ranked by Future Considerations will be participating in Buffalo, with only Ryan Nugent-Hopkins watching the tournament from Red Deer.

Nugent-Hopkins was among the last cuts from Canada and was expected to get the call had Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Brett Connolly been unable to participate after suffering an injury in exhibition.

Adam Larsson and Gabriel Landeskog will play large roles with Sweden. For Larsson, it is his second go-around at the event after helping his native country to a bronze performance in Saskatoon.

Saginaw’s Brandon Saad, ranked fifth, was among the last cuts from the American squad, who are the favourites to duplicate their gold medal performance from a year ago.

Rank / Pos. / Name / Team / League / Ht / Wt /
1). C/LW Sean Couturier, Drummondville, QMJHL, 6’-4”, 195 Lbs
2). D Adam Larsson, Skelleftea, SEL, 6’-3”, 205 Lbs
3). C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Red Deer, WHL, 6’-0.5”, 170 Lbs
4). RW Gabriel Landeskog, Kitchener, OHL, 6’-1”, 205 Lbs
5). RW Brandon Saad, Saginaw, OHL, 6’-1.5”, 210 Lbs
6). D Dougie Hamilton, Niagara, OHL, 6’-4.5”, 195 Lbs
7). D Ryan Murphy, Kitchener, OHL, 5’-10.5”, 175 Lbs
8). D Duncan Siemens, Saskatoon, WHL, 6’-3”, 200 Lbs
9). D Scott Mayfield, Youngstown, USHL, 6’-3.5”, 200 Lbs
10). RW Joel Armia, Assat, SM-Liiga, 6’-3”, 195 Lbs
11). C Jonathan Huberdeau, Saint John, QMJHL, 6’-1”, 165 Lbs
12). LW Matt Puempel, Peterborough, OHL, 6’-0”, 200 Lbs
13). D Nathan Beaulieu, Saint John, QMJHL, 6’-2”, 185 Lbs
14). D Adam Clendening, Boston University, NCAA, 5’-11”, 185 Lbs
15). D David Musil, Vancouver, WHL, 6’-3.5”, 200 Lbs
16). RW Ryan Strome, Niagara, OHL, 6’-0.5”, 185 Lbs
17). C Rocco Grimaldi, U18, NTDP, 5’-6”, 165 Lbs
18). C Alexander Khokhlachev, Windsor, OHL, 5’-10”, 185 Lbs
19). C Victor Rask, Leksand, Sweden, 6’-1.5”, 195 Lbs
20). RW Tomas Jurco, Saint John, QMJHL, 6’-2”, 195 Lbs
21). LW Nicklas Jensen, Oshawa, OHL, 6’-2.5”, 185 Lbs
22). C Mark McNeill, Prince Albert, WHL, 6’-1”, 205 Lbs
23). LW Lucas Lessio, Oshawa, OHL, 6’-0.5”, 195 Lbs
24). C Boone Jenner, Oshawa, OHL, 6’-1”, 195 Lbs
25). RW Ty Rattie, Portland, WHL, 5’-11”, 170 Lbs
26). RW Seth Ambroz, Omaha, USHL, 6’-2”, 210 Lbs
27). RW Vladislav Namestnikov, London, OHL, 5’-11.5”, 170 Lbs
28). LW Sven Baertschi, Portland, WHL, 5’-10.5”, 175 Lbs
29). D Myles Bell, Regina, WHL, 6’-0”, 210 Lbs
30). D Joe Morrow, Portland, WHL, 6’-0.5”, 195 Lbs

31). LW J.T. Miller, U18, NTDP, 6’-1”, 200 Lbs
32). C Matthew Nieto, Boston University, NCAA, 5’-11”, 180 Lbs
33). C Daniel Catenacci, Sault St, Marie, OHL, 5’-9.5”, 175 Lbs
34). RW Tyler Biggs, U18, NTDP, 6’-2”, 210 Lbs
35). G John Gibson, U18, NTDP, 6’-3”, 205 Lbs
36). C Zach Phillips, Saint John, QMJHL, 6’-1”, 180 Lbs
37). D Jonas Brodin, Farjestad, SEL, 6’-1”, 165 Lbs
38). C Mika Zibanejad, Djurgardens Jr., Sweden, 6’-1.5”, 185 Lbs
39). C Vincent Trocheck, Saginaw, OHL, 5’-10”, 185 Lbs
40). C Colin Jacobs, Seattle, WHL, 6’-1”, 205 Lbs
41). C Joachim Nermark, Linkoping Jr., Sweden, 6’-1”, 180 Lbs
42). C Nick Shore, University of Denver, NCAA, 6’-0”, 190 Lbs
43). LW Mario Lucia, Wayzata, USHS, 6’-2”, 180 Lbs
44). C Michael St. Croix, Edmonton, WHL, 5’-11”, 175 Lbs
45). RW Stefea Noesen, Plymouth, OHL, 6’-0.5”, 195 Lbs
46). LW Phillip Danault, Victoriaville, QMJHL, 6’-0”, 175 Lbs
47). D Jamieson Oleksiak, Northeastern, NCAA, 6’-7”, 240 Lbs
48). RW Maxim Shalunov, Chelyabinsk, MHL, 6’-3”, 185 Lbs
49). D Connor Murphy, U18, NTDP, 6’-3”, 190 Lbs
50). D Xavier Ouellet, Montreal, QMJHL, 5’-11.5”, 180 Lbs
51). RW Philippe Hudon, Choate-Rosemary, USHS, 6’-1”, 185 Lbs
52). G Samu Perhonen, JYP Jr., Finland, 6’-3”, 175 Lbs
53). RW Dmitrij Jaskin, Slavia Jr., Czech Rep., 6’-1”, 195 Lbs
54). D Oscar Klefbom, Farjestad Jr., Sweden, 6’-3”, 195 Lbs
55). RW Rickard Rakell, Plymouth, OHL, 6’-0.5”, 190 Lbs
56). RW Tobias Rieder, Kitchener, OHL, 5’-10”, 170 Lbs
57). RW Shane McColgan, Kelowna, WHL, 5’-9”, 165 Lbs
58). G Christopher Gibson, Chicoutimi, QMJHL, 6’-1”, 190 Lbs
59). D Patrick Koudys, RPI, NCAA, 6’-4”, 195 Lbs
60). D Scott Harrington, London, OHL, 6’-1”, 205 Lbs

Dan Stewart is the scouting director of Future Considerations and can be found on Twitter. For all the latest Future Considerations news and posts, follow FC’s Official Twitter Feed, on YouTube and on Facebook!