A pair of recent Ducks first-round draft picks, defenseman Jake Gardiner and forward Kyle Palmieri, were chosen for the 22-man Team USA World Junior Championships roster Wednesday.
Gardiner (2008) and Palmieri (2009) joinfellow Ducks prospects Brandon McMillan (Canada), Sami Vatanen (Finland), Igor Bobkov (Russia), Radoslav Illo (Slovakia) and Luca Sbisa (Switzerland), who were also named to their respective national teams for the WJCs, which begin Saturday in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Gardiner, 19, is in his second season at the University of Wisconsin. Palmieri, 18, is a freshman at Notre Dame.
Thousand Oaks native Max Nicastro, a 19-year-old defenseman who was drated by Detroit in 2008, did not make the final Team USA roster.
