Sebrango Heads to World Junior Championship

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Detroit Red Wings have reassigned defenseman Donovan Sebrango from the Grand Rapids Griffins to Canada’s National Junior Team for the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Sebrango, 19, will represent Team Canada at the tournament that runs Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta. More information about the event can found at iihf.com.

This marks the third time in the past four years a player has left the Griffins mid-season to compete in the World Junior Championship, after Filip Zadina represented the Czech Republic in 2019 and Joe Veleno (Canada) and Moritz Seider (Germany) competed at the event in 2020.

A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Sebrango turned pro with Grand Rapids at the tender age of 18. The defenseman quickly made a name for himself in the Red Wings organization, as he has suited up for 51 games in the AHL, totaling seven points (0-7—7), 25 penalty minutes and a plus-seven rating.

Selected in the third round (63rd overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, Sebrango has registered 56 games as pro with 10 points (1-9—10) and 75 penalty minutes. At the 2019-20 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, he won a silver medal with the Canada U18 club after totaling two assists in five outings. Sebrango also competed with Canada Black in 2018-19 at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, where he bagged two helpers and four penalty minutes in five contests.

Sebrango joins Manitoba’s Cole Perfetti as the only AHL professionals on Team Canada’s roster. Canada will kickoff its portion of the tournament on Sunday, Dec. 26 against the Czech Republic.

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins