USA HOCKEY has announced that Brady Skjei has been cut from the World Junior team.

Skjei was a healthy scratch during yesterday’s loss.

With Skjei, it was a numbers game & its unfortunate because he was great in Lake Placid &, even since then, he's done so much to improve.—
Julie Robenhymer (@JulieRobenhymer) December 23, 2012

At the United States of Hockey, Chris Peters writes that Brady Skjei had some struggles during Team USA’s exhibition win over Sweden today.

Peters says that Skjei got a lot of ice time, made some questionable decisions, but got better as the game went along.

He adds that he isn’t sure that Skjei did enough today to move him off the bubble and guarantee a roster for Team USA.

The question with Skjei is whether he is ready for this tournament and Peters says that he isn’t so sure that he is right now.

While watching Team USA hold their evaluation camp for the World Junior Championships, Katie Strang of ESPN NY said that she was hearing that Rangers 2012 first round pick Brady Skjei was drawing comparisons to fellow Minnesota-born defenseman Ryan McDonagh.

Prior to being drafted, Skjei was described as a defenseman who can shut people down and projects to be a player similar to Ryan McDonagh.

Gordie Clark said that Skjei is the same kind of athlete as McDonagh and Chris Kreider.

Right after the draft, assistant GM Jeff Gorton said “His game is similar to McDonagh. He is a shutdown guy, elite skater, a big body. He is very willing to learn and has a lot of qualities that we like. I think it’s an untapped guy that is only going to get better and looking down the road he is a really good fit for us.”

Corey Pronman writes at ESPN Insider that Skjei has had his struggles at Minnesota but with his elite skating ability, good hockey sense and big body he still has a decent shot at gaining a spot with Team USA for the World Junios.

In The Hockey News, 12/31/12 issue, they preview Team USA for the World Junior Championships and suggest that coach Phil Housley look to reunite the pair of potential first overall pick Seth Jones and Rangers 2012 first round pick Brady Skjei.

Skjei and Jones played together for the US National Program last season and while Skjei will be fighting for a spot on the team, THN writes “if fast chemistry has any value for the US braintrust, that pairing would make a lot of sense.”

At The United States of Hockey, when breaking down defensemen, Chris Peters writes of Skjei, “Skjei is a very strong defense-first kind of defenseman with elite speed and skating to help him contribute offensively on occasion. “

 READ MORE, including a recent update, on Brady Skjei.

In The Hockey News (12/17/12 issue), they look at Brady Skjei and write “His M.O. is his mobility and ability to move the puck up ice quickly, but the transition to the Gophers has been rough for Skjei, who had just two points in 10 games. The offensive upside is there, but the Rangers would love for him to find a mean streak to complement his 6-3 200lb body.

Earlier in the year, Leslie Treff ranked Skjei the Rangers 5th best prospect at Hockey’s Future and Corey Pronman ranked Skjei 4th at Puck Prospectus. Pronman says that Skjei is an “elite skater who is remarkable to watch” He adds that, similar to what The Hockey News wrote, Skjei isn’t really a physical player and he can be tougher on checks.

READ MORE about Brady Skjei including updates on how he has done so far at Minnesota.

Drew Claussen of the Minnesota Daily, the newspaper on the University of Minnesota Campus, says that Skjei has been solid but has a lot of room for improvement, esperically when it comes to being a consistent two-way defender.

He writes, “he’s had an ok freshman season so far, not stellar by any means. I’d say there has been times where you don’t notice him in games, which for a freshman defender isn’t terrible because it means he’s not getting blown by a lot. He did sit out a game about a month ago because of an unspecified injury but seemed to bounce back from that just fine. Recently Skjei has spent the majority of his time on the top defensive line with Nate Schmidt, who I believe to be the team’s best D-man, so that should help his progression.”

He has one goal and one assist in 14 games with 8 shots on goal.

Julie Robenhymer writes that Skjei will be battling for one of the final spots on D for Team USA.

Chris Peters writes that Skjei has all the tools to play for Team USA but may not have enough seasoning and experience to make the team. Peters adds “He’s good defensively, has great size and strength and can contribute just enough offensively.”

At Blueshirts United , Gordie Clark said that he was impressed with the game that Skjei has and that as an 18 year old he is playing a very strong game.

At the United States of Hockey, Chris Peters writes that while Brady Skjei has all the tools to deserve a roster spot with Team USA at the World Juniors in Ufa, Russia, the struggles and lack of ice time he has been getting at the University of Minnesota may keep him off the team.

Peters writes “It’s becoming less clear there’s a spot for him on this team, but his physical attributes keep him in the hunt.”

Early in the season, Robb from Clutter Puck wrote a review of Skjei from his first few games.

THIS SECTION is all about Brady Skjei.

Based on the past two reviews from Clutter Puck, Skjei has been on the ice for three goals against and not always making the right play.

Michael Russo tweets that Brady Skjei will be one of the Minnesota lineup for this weekends games. It is only believed to be a minor injury.

Robb from Clutter Puck sent this review of Skjei through the first four games of the season.
I will tell you through 4 regular season games, Brady Skjei has yet to fall into regular rotation on the defense even though he’s played in every game so far this season. Through the 4 regular season games I’ve watched, Brady has been either in the bottom pairing of defensemen (3 games) or listed as the extra man (1 game) for forward rotation on the 4th line (this was the most recent game on Saturday night) so it’s been kind of hard to tell how he’s doing so far.

At the United States of Hockey, Chris Peters starts to preview Team USA for the upcoming World Junior Championships in Ufa, Russia.

Under the header of players “likely” to make the team is Rangers first round pick Brady Skjei.

Peters thinks that Skjei’s skating and two-way game make him a likely inclusion for Team USA.

He writes that if the World Juniors started tomorrow Skjei would be on his second pair with fellow first round pick Jacob Trouba.

Skjei has one goal and one assist in four games for Minnesota so far this season.

THIS SECTION is all about Skjei

Skjei’s goal starts at 1:30

Brady Skjei's first career goal makes it 7-1 #nyr. From Schmidt—
Michael Russo (@Russostrib) October 14, 2012

At Hockey’s Future they preview the University of Minnesota season and writes of Skjei “The Lakeville, MN native is part of a stellar freshman class for Minnesota this season and is one of the nation’s best incoming freshman rearguards this season. He is noted for his superb skating and hockey sense. As Guentzel explains, Skjei will bring many great things to the team.”

Skjei also had an assist and was a plus one. He was also one of the stars of the game.

Russo writes in the Star Tribune “this kid honestly is terrific” and he said that he was “outstanding” on the back end.

Skjei’s goal was a one-timer on the PP.