Salituro Returns to Lineup After U-17

As the Ottawa 67’s take the week before the trade deadline to kickstart their rebuild, a key part of that rebuild will re-join them tonight in Barrie as 2012 first-round pick Dante Salituro comes back from the IIHF’s World Under-17 tournament.

Salituro finished in a four-way tie for 10th in tournament scoring, racking up three goals and five assists in just five games.  He finished second on Ontario, only one point behind leading scorer and 2012 first overall pick Connor McDavid.

While it looked for a while as though Ontario would be untouchable after a 12-0 win over Slovakia and an 11-1 win over Atlantic Canada, a pair of one-goal losses to Quebec and the United States put them out of medal contention. 

The trade involving Tyler Graovac this morning means that Salituro, who had 12 points in his last 11 games before leaving for the tournament, will move up on Ottawa’s depth chart at center. 

After not having a member of the 67’s on Team Canada for a tenth consecutive year at the Under-20’s this year, here’s hoping that Salituro’s performance impressed Hockey Canada, and that he’s on their radar for the National Junior tournament for years to come.