WJC: Canada 2018 Roster Talk

[jj cale]

With the rave reviews Mete is getting we might have to cross him off the list also. I know it is preseason and all that means and the rubber really meets the road when an 18 year old has to start playing regular shifts in the real season but I can concur with other Montreal fans when I watched my first preseason Hab game last night....................Mete was incredible.

He at the very least has made that team going into the season and is going to get the 9 game tryout, and if he continues to play like this the Habs this year cannot afford to not keep him up.

He could be lost to us for the WJC.

 

[JackSlater]

Hart
Dipietro

Goal tending is fairly cut and dry, both deserve to go but I still wish they brought Wall, Wells, Skinner for some competition. I still think it all goes back 2013 when Subban was supposed to the savior of Canadian goaltending and he was at best the 3rd best goalie at camp and the goalie they mostly just brought in to fill a spot was the best in camp.

Mete Makar
Girard Fabbro
Clague Foote
Bean

I really like our defense I think we should have a good combination of speed and offence, and size and defense. Even if Mete and Girard stick in the NHL we should be able to easily replace them with Cholowski and Mahura

Raddysh Steel Kyrou
Vilardi Glass Suzuki
Howden Macleod Dube
Benson Rasmussen Lind
Tippit

I really like our offense I think the top three lines should be pretty interchangeable all have offense and energy. The fourth line should have some grit and size but still has lots of skill.

The team looks OK at this point, and one positive is that it at least definitely fits what Ducharme likes to do with his team. It should at least be a very, very mobile back end.

Has HC announced plans for their own outdoor event in Van/Victoria 2019? I bet it's coming.

I have heard nothing, but it wouldn't be shocking if an announcement was made sometime in December or January. I actually do have interest in it because I am strongly considering attending the 2019 tournament. I attended the 2003 and 2011 tournaments, so Russian fans should anxiously await my decision.

With the rave reviews Mete is getting we might have to cross him off the list also. I know it is preseason and all that means and the rubber really meets the road when an 18 year old has to start playing regular shifts in the real season but I can concur with other Montreal fans when I watched my first preseason Hab game last night....................Mete was incredible.

He at the very least has made that team going into the season and is going to get the 9 game tryout, and if he continues to play like this the Habs this year cannot afford to not keep him up.

He could be lost to us for the WJC.

It's been good to hear about Mete playing well. He had a strong camp last year. It is pretty rare for smallish defencemen to stick in the NHL as teenagers though. I am expecting him to return to London.

 

[jj cale]

Ordinarily I would agree with you Jack about Mete but this is not an ordinary situation in Montreal going on right now.

I don't know how familiar you are with what Montreal has at it's disposal for defense this year but it is a group of guys who are on paper not optimal for success in todays NHL, a puck moving unit it surely ain't. You've got Weber,Alzner,Benn,Petry,Daivdson and then they are counting on euro league rookie Jerabek and journey man Schlemko to round that cast out with hopes schlemko can be the partner for weber, it is unknown and looks shaky without things falling perfectly into place. If it don't work things could get real ugly real quick and if it does With what Mete has shown so far and he were to sustain that level of play........................they may NEED to keep him with the big club because they would be a better team with him then without him.

Also, the heat is on with bergevin, the noose is tightening like wet leather around his neck, his job is on the line and he knows it, the natives are crying that this guy has taken what was 5 years ago a great core that could have been built into a real contender and f***ed the whole thing up. He needs the best Canadiens team that can be iced because he needs results, it is a team that is supposed to be built to win NOW but we all know what has happened with them in the past 5 years. His hand may be forced if mete proves he is ready, he sure as hell looked ready last night and from what I have been reading on the Habs board about him in all the games he has played.........last night was the norm so far from him.

Let's see how it all plays out but i can tell you one thing, he is not competing for a spot on Nashvilles blueline.

 

[1Gold Standard]

update.

N PATRICK P.L. DUBOIS J CHYCHRUN T JOST O TIPPETT S GIRARD V METE all remain in NHL camps

Apparently Tippett has made the Panthers opening night roster. I hope it's just the 9 game NHL taste of the bright lights and then back to jr. where he belongs. It will be a loss for TC if he's not available come December. Detroit did the Detroit thing and sent Rasmussen back.

T BENSON G VILARDI M MCLEOD are injured and will all end up back in junior. I'm not a huge fan of McLeod, but I have him on the team as a 3rd. line C/RW if available. So, I hope he will be available in December. I've already written about the other 2 injury prone players.

 

[JackSlater]

Ordinarily I would agree with you Jack about Mete but this is not an ordinary situation in Montreal going on right now.

I don't know how familiar you are with what Montreal has at it's disposal for defense this year but it is a group of guys who are on paper not optimal for success in todays NHL, a puck moving unit it surely ain't. You've got Weber,Alzner,Benn,Petry,Daivdson and then they are counting on euro league rookie Jerabek and journey man Schlemko to round that cast out with hopes schlemko can be the partner for weber, it is unknown and looks shaky without things falling perfectly into place. If it don't work things could get real ugly real quick and if it does With what Mete has shown so far and he were to sustain that level of play........................they may NEED to keep him with the big club because they would be a better team with him then without him.

Also, the heat is on with bergevin, the noose is tightening like wet leather around his neck, his job is on the line and he knows it, the natives are crying that this guy has taken what was 5 years ago a great core that could have been built into a real contender and ****ed the whole thing up. He needs the best Canadiens team that can be iced because he needs results, it is a team that is supposed to be built to win NOW but we all know what has happened with them in the past 5 years. His hand may be forced if mete proves he is ready, he sure as hell looked ready last night and from what I have been reading on the Habs board about him in all the games he has played.........last night was the norm so far from him.

Let's see how it all plays out but i can tell you one thing, he is not competing for a spot on Nashvilles blueline.

I will defer when it comes to knowledge of Montreal's situation. It would be unfortunate for a player to be placed above where he should be for the reasons you describe, but it does of course happen quite often. I will be skeptical that he stays with the team until it happens given how rare it is. Closest comparable that I can recall from recent history is Del Zotto surprisingly making the Rangers as a 19 year old in 2010.

 

[ChurchOfAlfie]

update.

N PATRICK P.L. DUBOIS J CHYCHRUN T JOST O TIPPETT S GIRARD V METE all remain in NHL camps

Apparently Tippett has made the Panthers opening night roster. I hope it's just the 9 game NHL taste of the bright lights and then back to jr. where he belongs. It will be a loss for TC if he's not available come December. Detroit did the Detroit thing and sent Rasmussen back.

T BENSON G VILARDI M MCLEOD are injured and will all end up back in junior. I'm not a huge fan of McLeod, but I have him on the team as a 3rd. line C/RW if available. So, I hope he will be available in December. I've already written about the other 2 injury prone players.

You're also forgetting Alex Formenton who, for the time being, is still in Ottawa. Guaranteed he's returned to London sometime in his 9 game window though. His speed could be a real asset for Canada.

 

[Joe Zanussi]

update.

N PATRICK P.L. DUBOIS J CHYCHRUN T JOST O TIPPETT S GIRARD V METE all remain in NHL camps

Apparently Tippett has made the Panthers opening night roster. I hope it's just the 9 game NHL taste of the bright lights and then back to jr. where he belongs. It will be a loss for TC if he's not available come December. Detroit did the Detroit thing and sent Rasmussen back.

T BENSON G VILARDI M MCLEOD are injured and will all end up back in junior. I'm not a huge fan of McLeod, but I have him on the team as a 3rd. line C/RW if available. So, I hope he will be available in December. I've already written about the other 2 injury prone players.

Thanks for the update. Much appreciated.

 

[Joe Zanussi]

Just fyi: USA only has three players still in camps: Keller, Yamamoto, and Brown. I expect Keller to be the only one who we lose

 

[jj cale]

I will defer when it comes to knowledge of Montreal's situation. It would be unfortunate for a player to be placed above where he should be for the reasons you describe, but it does of course happen quite often. I will be skeptical that he stays with the team until it happens given how rare it is. Closest comparable that I can recall from recent history is Del Zotto surprisingly making the Rangers as a 19 year old in 2010.

You are probably right, they will err on the side of caution in his development when all is said and done most likely. But he is gonna get a shot and if he carries his preseason play over into the regular season for the first 9 games then Montreal might be forced to keep him up, the Habs D situation is pretty bleak.

 

[1Gold Standard]

Alright Alight Alright. Not predicting our team to be serious gold medal contenders this year, but they may play/lose a bronze medal game. Nevertheless looking forward to the tournament, minus the outdoor game.

but predictions are subject to change.

 

[SpoolCat]

I think Canada could win gold. This year it's hard to pick a favorite.
Finland has a excellent defense but other than Tolvanen they aren't great offensively
Sweden is always good but at this point are pretty much the Washington Capitals of the WJC
Russia- I'm no expert on Russian hockey so I could be wrong but from reading HF it seems like a majority of their better players are either younger or play in the CHL. Will Bragin take them?
Czech Republic- could have some nice pieces Skarek,Chytil, Necas, Safin, Zadina. But can they get out of the quaterfinals?

Canada and the US are probably the most well rounded although the US could be seriously hurt if Brown and Yamamoto don't come back. I just really hope Canada can beat the US we've lost to them far too much lately.

 

[JackSlater]

I've become more optimistic regarding this team as the tournament draws nearer. No nation has had a really loaded draft recently, Canada presumably doesn't have a question mark for a goaltender, Ducharme is a good coach and Canada should at least be deep. Time to see which players start their seasons off well and which players are still in the NHL come mid-December.

 

[Benttheknee]

Alex Formenton made the Senators, but I assume he gets sent back to London. I wonder if he is now on their radar as a candidate.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I think Canada could win gold. This year it's hard to pick a favorite.
Finland has a excellent defense but other than Tolvanen they aren't great offensively
Sweden is always good but at this point are pretty much the Washington Capitals of the WJC
Russia- I'm no expert on Russian hockey so I could be wrong but from reading HF it seems like a majority of their better players are either younger or play in the CHL. Will Bragin take them?
Czech Republic- could have some nice pieces Skarek,Chytil, Necas, Safin, Zadina. But can they get out of the quaterfinals?

Canada and the US are probably the most well rounded although the US could be seriously hurt if Brown and Yamamoto don't come back. I just really hope Canada can beat the US we've lost to them far too much lately.

I like that comparison, haha.

Canada could win but they look weaker than normally.

 

[LeafChief]

update.

N PATRICK P.L. DUBOIS J CHYCHRUN T JOST O TIPPETT S GIRARD V METE all remain in NHL camps

Apparently Tippett has made the Panthers opening night roster. I hope it's just the 9 game NHL taste of the bright lights and then back to jr. where he belongs. It will be a loss for TC if he's not available come December. Detroit did the Detroit thing and sent Rasmussen back.

T BENSON G VILARDI M MCLEOD are injured and will all end up back in junior. I'm not a huge fan of McLeod, but I have him on the team as a 3rd. line C/RW if available. So, I hope he will be available in December. I've already written about the other 2 injury prone players.

Patrick and Chychrun won't be available to this team.

Dubois may become available by Christmas.

Montreal's D is a disaster and Mete may actually stick all year.

Of the players listed, Tippet should be back in the OHL soon and maybe Girard depending on how Irwin/Weber can hold up while Ellis is out.

 

[1Gold Standard]

Patrick and Chychrun won't be available to this team.

Dubois may become available by Christmas.

Montreal's D is a disaster and Mete may actually stick all year.

Of the players listed, Tippet should be back in the OHL soon and maybe Girard depending on how Irwin/Weber can hold up while Ellis is out.

hence I have them highlighted in an earlier post (previous page) along with Dubois and Jost. I doubt those 4 will be made available, but we shall see. out of the 4 I think Jost is the most likely candidate to be made available.

Mete being in Mtl all year would be a disaster for him.

on another note.... I haven't watched much of the WHL the past 3- seasons, so this guy Tyler Steenbergen is a complete mystery to me. almost no Hockey Canada experience other than a u17 development camp, but at a torrid 3.6 PPG pace, got to think there are some at Hockey Canada taking a look. at least I hope so.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

I think Canada could win gold. This year it's hard to pick a favorite.
Finland has a excellent defense but other than Tolvanen they aren't great offensively
Sweden is always good but at this point are pretty much the Washington Capitals of the WJC
Russia- I'm no expert on Russian hockey so I could be wrong but from reading HF it seems like a majority of their better players are either younger or play in the CHL. Will Bragin take them?
Czech Republic- could have some nice pieces Skarek,Chytil, Necas, Safin, Zadina. But can they get out of the quaterfinals?

Canada and the US are probably the most well rounded although the US could be seriously hurt if Brown and Yamamoto don't come back. I just really hope Canada can beat the US we've lost to them far too much lately.

I think scoring is last thing what you should be worried in Finland's world junior team.
Tolvanen is tearing apart KHL ( 18 points in 14 games).
Heponiemi is tearing apart WHL ( 17 points in 5 games)
Oksanen makes impact in Regina Pats ( 14 points in 6 games).

Then there's three 2018 draft eligible players ( Jesse Ylonen, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Rasmus Kupari)
which had good tournament in 2017 U18 WJC's.
All those three guys has chance to make Finland's final U20 WJC team.

Only which can be issue is center depth but i'm sure coach Ahokas figures that out.

 

[BrettM]

There's a noticeable conundrum facing Ducharme in regards to the defence. Assuming Mete returns to London/junior which I still perceive as a virtual certainity then the makeup of this projected defence is concerningly small. Clague,Bean and Girard, all returning players are molded in a smaller, puck moving light and then when you include two definite locks in Cale Makar and Mete I have a difficult time believing that the coaching staff can afford to take with them five diminuitive defenceman. My d-pairings are as follows::

Clague-Fabbro
Girard-Foote
Stanley-Makar
Mete

I can't find a way to allocate Jake Bean a spot, ditto for Dennis Cholowski. In my mind Stanley and Nic Hague are battling for one spot.

 

[BrettM]

There's a noticeable conundrum facing Ducharme in regards to the defence. Assuming Mete returns to London/junior which I still perceive as a virtual certainity then the makeup of this projected defence is concerningly small. Clague,Bean and Girard, all returning players are molded in a smaller, puck moving light and then when you include two definite locks in Cale Makar and Mete I have a difficult time believing that the coaching staff can afford to take with them five diminuitive defenceman. My d-pairings are as follows::

Clague-Fabbro
Girard-Foote
Stanley-Makar
Mete

I can't find a way to allocate Jake Bean a spot, ditto for Dennis Cholowski. In my mind Stanley and Nic Hague are battling for one spot.

Also, if I'm inclined to list two darkhorses on the backend to crack this squad they would be Marc-Olivier Duquette from Drummondville(Ducharme's club team) and Will Warm from the edmonton Oil Kings who let me tell you all doesn't get recognition due to the team he resides on but is an absolute gem. Great skater!

 

[JackSlater]

There's a noticeable conundrum facing Ducharme in regards to the defence. Assuming Mete returns to London/junior which I still perceive as a virtual certainity then the makeup of this projected defence is concerningly small. Clague,Bean and Girard, all returning players are molded in a smaller, puck moving light and then when you include two definite locks in Cale Makar and Mete I have a difficult time believing that the coaching staff can afford to take with them five diminuitive defenceman. My d-pairings are as follows::

Clague-Fabbro
Girard-Foote
Stanley-Makar
Mete

I can't find a way to allocate Jake Bean a spot, ditto for Dennis Cholowski. In my mind Stanley and Nic Hague are battling for one spot.

Girard isn't a returning player, it's Bean, Clague and Fabbro. The size of Canada's eligible defencemen is indeed an interesting issue. I am very open to your decision to leave Bean home. I assume that Foote is basically a lock and I agree that Stanley and Hague will get serious consideration. You named most of the big name defencemen Canada has, but there are a few others that I think will be considered. Wouldn't be shocked for any of Timmins, Mahura and Brook to get some consideration, and they are all at least average sized.

 

[BrettM]

I addressed the defenceman yesterday, will chime in with the forwards today. Like most people on these boards I don't expect the likes of Nolan Patrick,Tyson Jost and Pierre-Luc Dubois to get loaned back so based off of who I anticipate returned this is how I see the offense shaking out.

Raddysh-Steel-Kyrou
Tippett-McLeod-Dube
Vilardi-Phillips-Suzuki
Mascherin-Comtois-Gadjovich
Steenbergen

 

[BrettM]

I addressed the defenceman yesterday, will chime in with the forwards today. Like most people on these boards I don't expect the likes of Nolan Patrick,Tyson Jost and Pierre-Luc Dubois to get loaned back so based off of who I anticipate returned this is how I see the offense shaking out.

Raddysh-Steel-Kyrou
Vilardi-McLeod-Dube

 

[ceg195]

Holy fcuk

 

[newfy]

Sounds like Vilardis injury is pretty serious, could impact his status for the tournament. Cholowski is having a really good start on a bad team as well, 8 points/3 goals in 6 games and a plus 3.

I'm not sure why so many people seem to have Stanley in on the defense. Is it just because the defense lacks size? I find it hard to believe a guy who has a season high of 17 points and 5 goals in his OHL career (will change this year, good start) is a lock for this team. Same with Mete, great preseason with Montreal and he is getting some NHL games but I still dont think hes a lock. Hes played in London for a great team which will help him but hes still a 5'9" dman that was a fourth round pick not too long ago. He will be a guy thatrealy depends on how he plays when he comes back

 

[SpoolCat]

Carter Hart has mono, hopefully it's not too serious and he'll be back for the WJC.

Bean wasn't very good last year but until we see what he shows at training camp I don't think it's fair to write him off. There is a history of defenseman being bad in their 18 year old year and than being the best one in their 19 year old year PK Subban, Alex Pietrangelo