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Sean Kuraly survives penultimate cuts, will play for Team USA in Ufa

Sharks prospect and 2011 5th round draft pick Sean Kuraly will be one of thirteen forwards on Team USA’s roster when it begins its 2013 World Junior Championships schedule Wednesday against Germany in Ufa, Russia. A 10-game OHL suspension that rendered Stefan Noesen ineligible to make the team meant there were only three cuts left to be made in order to trim the roster down to the required 23 players. Defenseman Brady Skjei and forward Stefan Matteau were cut this morning, paving the way for Kuraly to cement his position on the club. The final cut, to be announced sometime between now and Wednesday, will be a blueliner.

A disappointing start to Kuraly’s collegiate career with the University of Miami apparently hasn’t soured the Team USA brass on the 19-year-old center from Ohio. Kuraly’s starring role at the team’s summer evaluation camp in Lake Placid, where he led all players in scoring, was likely the biggest factor in determining his eventual fate. Kuraly will be the first Sharks prospect to represent the United States at the World Juniors since Charlie Coyle in 2010, six months before he was traded to Minnesota. Czech Tomas Hertl will be the only other Sharks prospect representing his country at the tournament.

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