Canada names a Maple Leaf as captain for World Juniors.

The World Junior Championship of hockey is right around the corner and each country that will be participating in the tournament is now locking in their rosters for one of the most prestigious hockey tournaments of the year.

With finalized rosters also comes final decisions about each teams leadership group, and over the weekend Hockey Canada announced who would be representing Canada as part of the team's leadership group during the tournament.

The group is packed with National Hockey League stars of the future but headlining that leadership group as captain will be Toronto Maple Leafs rookie forward Fraser Minten. Minten had his first taste of the NHL this season and performed admirably, something that no doubt was a major contributing factor in him earning this role.

Minten will be joined by a number of other young NHL players including Boston Bruins rookie forward Matt Poitras, Sabres rookie forward Matt Savoie, Montreal Canadiens rookie forward Owen Beck, and Arizona Coyotes rookie forward Maveric Lamoureaux, all of whom will be alternate captains at this tournament.

It is honestly quite an impressive leadership group and one that speaks to the depth of talent on the Canadian roster this time around at the World Juniors.

Canada will get to put their new leadership group to the test in short order with the Canadians taking on Finland in Group A action on Boxing Day.