After a week or two of rumours, the Team USA roster for the Olympics was announced today. Just as Frank Seravalli and Chris Peters from Daily Faceoff guessed, there are two Toronto Maple Leafs prospects on the final roster:

Matthew Knies was the Leafs’ top draft pick this past year, taken 57th overall in the second round. He’s been a revelation in the NCAA this year, with 20 points in 20 games and playing as one of the University of Minnesota’s top players on one of the NCAA’s top teams. He also scored in the one game Team USA played in the Men’s World Juniors before it got shut down.

2021 Top 25 Under 25: Matthew Knies debuts at #10
Where the hell did Matthew Knies come from?

Nicholas Abruzzese was a fourth round pick of Toronto’s back in 2019. He was a late blooming junior player in the USHL with the Chicago Steel in his age-19 season. Abruzzese had a great freshman season with Harvard, making the All-American team. He missed all of last season with hip surgery, but he’s come back this year scoring 21 points in 13 games as the captain of Harvard.

2021 Top 25 Under 25: Nick Abruzzese is #13
FTB: Nick Abruzzese to captain his college team next season