© Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Maxim Cajkovic will not take part in the World Junior Championship this year after being expelled from the Slovakian training camp. In a release, the team explains (via Google translate) that Cajkovic has been removed for a gross violation of sports and human values. Matej Deraj of Dennik Sport in Slovakia tweets that Cajkovic delivered several dirty hits on his potential teammates in a split-squad game.
Selected 89th overall by the Lightning in 2019, Cajkovic actually already took part in a WJC last season, recording two assists for Slovakia in five games. Though he played the last two seasons for the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL, he spent this first part of this year with the Bratislava Capitals in the ICEHL, where he had nine points in 12 games.
The 19-year-old winger possesses a lethal shot but will obviously have to avoid these kinds of situations in the future if his professional hockey career is to take off. The World Juniors is a chance for many young players to show off their skills against the best in the world and can only help the prospect stock of a player like Cajkovic. Given he's still waiting on his entry-level contract from the Lightning, this certainly won't help things. It will obviously also weaken the Slovakian squad, which isn't loaded with NHL prospects like Cajkovic and was relying on him to provide some offense at the tournament.
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