Olympics: Canada's lineup in 2018

[86Habs]

Good point with Stone too. I think MacKinnon definitely will be in with McDavid, I'd love to see Scheifele there too, but as you said maybe Hockey Canada wants to stick with the vets.

One things for sure, we've got a powerhouse team for many, many years to come.

MacKinnon's speed and explosiveness, as well as his ability to play the wing, would be very valuable assets on the international ice surface, even if he's in a depth/bottom six role. As has been pointed out above, Schiefele centered Canada's defensive/shut-down line at the 2016 Worlds and was excellent in that role...he could get some attention as the RW on Toews's line at future tournaments as Carter and Perry "age out".

 

[snipes]

MacKinnon's speed and explosiveness, as well as his ability to play the wing, would be very valuable assets on the international ice surface, even if he's in a depth/bottom six role. As has been pointed out above, Schiefele centered Canada's defensive/shut-down line at the 2016 Worlds and was excellent in that role...he could get some attention as the RW on Toews's line at future tournaments as Carter and Perry "age out".

Exactly, he's kind of the Perry/Carter/Getzlaf replacement. I think McDavid, MacKinnon, Scheifele are the next wave up front. Stone is there too.

On D what do you think? Ekblad for sure. What about Parayko and Rielly? They'll be close, but I'm not sure if they'll be ready. By 2022 for sure, but 2018 might be too early.

 

[JackSlater]

Agreed. Scheifele, McDavid, and MacKinnon should be locks for 2018 I think.

On D, Ekblad for sure. Parayko and Rielly could be fighting for spots.

I am not as high on Ekblad as many, but I do see him as the eventual heir to Weber. Even if Canada goes with five RHD, Canada has access to Doughty, Weber, Burns, Letang, Subban, Pietrangelo already. That's the strongest right side in hockey history. Depending how this season goes Ekblad may be in contention for the final spot or something. Since the ice surface will be big, I am not against moving on from Weber if he slips at all this year.

They're possibilities to drop out, for sure. I think Bergeron will age really well, though. Getzlaf, Perry, and Weber, on the other hand, may be "obsolete" in two years.

Bergeron's game is based on thinking, so I agree that he will likely age quite well. Getzlaf can be a season by season case, but I lean on the pessimistic side. Canada has enough great centres and playmakers. Perry struggled a bit to keep pace at the WC. I would take Scheifele or Stone (or Seguin) as replacements RWs.

MacKinnon's speed and explosiveness, as well as his ability to play the wing, would be very valuable assets on the international ice surface, even if he's in a depth/bottom six role. As has been pointed out above, Schiefele centered Canada's defensive/shut-down line at the 2016 Worlds and was excellent in that role...he could get some attention as the RW on Toews's line at future tournaments as Carter and Perry "age out".

I think MacKinnon is pretty close to a lock if he has a good season. Hockey Canada likes him a lot, and his speed isn't matched by any RW contenders.

 

[snipes]

I am not as high on Ekblad as many, but I do see him as the eventual heir to Weber. Even if Canada goes with five RHD, Canada has access to Doughty, Weber, Burns, Letang, Subban, Pietrangelo already. That's the strongest right side in hokey history. Depending how this season goes Ekblad may be in contention for the final spot or something. Since the ice surface will be big, I am not against moving on from Weber if he slips at all this year.

As a fellow historian, I agree. Our right side on D is likely the strongest in the history of hockey. Most of our great Dmen have been lefties (Orr, Bourque, Coffey, Potvin, Robinson, Park, et al).

Ekblad is only 20. Think about that, it's easy to forget he's only 20. He'll take over from Doughty as the best Dman in the game in the next 3-5 years in my view.

 

[86Habs]

Exactly, he's kind of the Perry/Carter/Getzlaf replacement. I think McDavid, MacKinnon, Scheifele are the next wave up front. Stone is there too.

On D what do you think? Ekblad for sure. What about Parayko and Rielly? They'll be close, but I'm not sure if they'll be ready. By 2022 for sure, but 2018 might be too early.

My left side depth chart is: 1) Keith; 2) Vlasic; 3) Brodie; 4) Rielly; 5) Murray; 6) Muzzin.

My right side depth chart is: 1) Doughty; 2) Pietrangelo; 3) Letang; 4) Weber; 5) Subban; 6) Burns; 7) Ekblad

Of the 8 defencemen for 2018, at least 3 should be LHSs - Keith, Vlasic and Brodie. Doughty and Pietrangelo are locks, and Weber will likely be a lock too if he maintains his current level of play. As part of Team Canada's leadership group they won't move on from Weber too quickly. That's six already. So basically Ekblad is in the conversation with Letang, Subban, and Burns for the final two spots, with Burns probably having the inside track on one of them given his WCOH involvement. If Canada goes for a 4-4 LHS/RHS split, he's fighting with those guys for one spot. He'll be in tough. He needs a rapid Weber decline or Burns coming back to real life next season to move up the depth chart. IMO, of course.

 

[snipes]

My left side depth chart is: 1) Keith; 2) Vlasic; 3) Brodie; 4) Rielly; 5) Murray; 6) Muzzin.

My right side depth chart is: 1) Doughty; 2) Pietrangelo; 3) Letang; 4) Weber; 5) Subban; 6) Burns; 7) Ekblad

Of the 8 defencemen for 2018, at least 3 should be LHSs - Keith, Vlasic and Brodie. Doughty and Pietrangelo are locks, and Weber will likely be a lock too if he maintains his current level of play. As part of Team Canada's leadership group they won't move on from Weber too quickly. That's six already. So basically Ekblad is in the conversation with Letang, Subban, and Burns for the final two spots, with Burns probably having the inside track on one of them given his WCOH involvement. If Canada goes for a 4-4 LHS/RHS split, he's fighting with those guys for one spot. He'll be in tough. He needs a rapid Weber decline or Burns coming back to real life next season to move up the depth chart. IMO, of course.

Good analysis, I think Ekblad could potentially jump Pietro and Weber. Letang doesn't seem to be in flavour with HC (I still take him), same with Subban. I could see him jumping up. Agreed fully with your left side.

Keith-Doughty
Vlasic-Letang
Brodie-Burns
Ekblad

That's a damn good D. Going into 2022, we have Rielly, Murray, and Parayko ready to step up. Our Era continues on.

 

[86Habs]

Bergeron's game is based on thinking, so I agree that he will likely age quite well. Getzlaf can be a season by season case, but I lean on the pessimistic side. Canada has enough great centres and playmakers. Perry struggled a bit to keep pace at the WC. I would take Scheifele or Stone (or Seguin) as replacements RWs.

I think MacKinnon is pretty close to a lock if he has a good season. Hockey Canada likes him a lot, and his speed isn't matched by any RW contenders.

The two forwards I wouldn't hesitate to dump from this team are Thornton and Perry. Getzlaf, Carter, Stamkos, Couture (not a great skater by any stretch), and O'Reilly merit further evaluation as the next season and a quarter progress.

Regarding MacKinnon, I'm a fan and would certainly include him on my roster; however, I'm hesitant to call anyone a lock anymore after I referred to Taylor Hall as such before the World Cup rosters were announced.

 

[leafsfuture]

The 2018 team will look almost identical to what it is at the WC. id say 80% the same. You can probably add McDavid for Thornton. Mckinnon might have a shot. But not sure who you would remove.

I say the 2022 team or the next WC team will look drastically different.

Disagree.

Big ice makes an impact -- Thornton will be one who drops off. Perry and Getzlaf could also very well drop off. Those guys are clearly already past prime, and are good enough now, but may not be in two years

I also have my doubts about Stamkos. He could recover his form, but who knows

 

[High five Tom]

Disagree.

Big ice makes an impact -- Thornton will be one who drops off. Perry and Getzlaf could also very well drop off. Those guys are clearly already past prime, and are good enough now, but may not be in two years

I also have my doubts about Stamkos. He could recover his form, but who knows

You may be right about those players. But they would be replaced with guys like, Seguin and Benn who were already on this WC team.

 

[JackSlater]

The two forwards I wouldn't hesitate to dump from this team are Thornton and Perry. Getzlaf, Carter, Stamkos, Couture (not a great skater by any stretch), and O'Reilly merit further evaluation as the next season and a quarter progress.

Regarding MacKinnon, I'm a fan and would certainly include him on my roster; however, I'm hesitant to call anyone a lock anymore after I referred to Taylor Hall as such before the World Cup rosters were announced.

Thornton will certainly be gone. Perry only made the World Cup team as an injury replacement, so he is pretty unlikely to return another year older and on international ice. I would certainly prefer O'Reilly to Couture as O'Reilly is a proven LW on the large ice. Getzlaf I'm not keen on because Canada doesn't really need a physical centre on the large ice surface, and I am skeptical of his ability to accommodate better Canadian centres by moving to the wing. Many of us have underrated Getzlaf and his skating before though.

 

[86Habs]

Thornton will certainly be gone. Perry only made the World Cup team as an injury replacement, so he is pretty unlikely to return another year older and on international ice. I would certainly prefer O'Reilly to Couture as O'Reilly is a proven LW on the large ice. Getzlaf I'm not keen on because Canada doesn't really need a physical centre on the large ice surface, and I am skeptical of his ability to accommodate better Canadian centres by moving to the wing. Many of us have underrated Getzlaf and his skating before though.

Getzlaf was really, really good in Sochi, particularly when Benn was added to the line with him and Perry. They weren't overly productive on the scoresheet but certainly dominated possession. I was skeptical about him and Perry, but turned out to be wrong. As it is though, he'll be nearly 33 years old in South Korea and likely past his prime. His skating, never a strength of his game, will likely have deteriorated a bit further by then with a risk of it being exposed on the international ice unless he's insulated with some adept wingers. I think the lineup below is a reasonable one, under either a Babcock or McLellan scenario, of course considering the guys like Getzlaf that will need to be evaluated over the next year and a bit:

Marchand - Crosby - Bergeron
Duchene - Toews - Schiefele
Benn - McDavid - Seguin
Tavares - Getzlaf - MacKinnon
Hall, O'Reilly

Keith - Doughty
Vlasic - Letang
Pietrangelo - Weber
Brodie, Subban

Price
Holtby
Murray

The short-list includes:
1) Stone, 2) Carter, 3) Stamkos, 4) Giroux, 5) Couture
1) Burns, 2) Ekblad, 3) Rielly, 4) Murray

A weakness is a lack of good RHS faceoff guys. Besides Bergeron (~57%) and Seguin (~56% - he's really improved in this area), Schiefele is well below 50% and Getzlaf consistently hovers right near that mark. If the Toews line serves as the hard match-up line (as one would expect), I could imagine the lines evolving such that Seguin and Benn eventually end up on his wings to provide that LHS/RHS faceoff-taking ability for d-zone faceoffs. Of course Seguin is not a Selke caliber defensive players, but it's a consideration. Strangely, our LHSs are amongst the best in the league at faceoffs - Crosby, Toews, Duchene, O'Reilly are exceptional and Tavares is not far behind.

 

[Bear12Good]

Marchand - Crosby - Bergeron
Benn - McDavid - Seguin
Duchene - Toews - O'Reilly
Hall-Tavares -Schiefele
MacKinnon


Doughty-Brodie
Vlasic -Ekblad
Pietrangelo - Weber


Price
Holtby

 

[Gritty]

Bergeron-Crosby-Marchand
Seguin-McDavid-Benn
Mckinnon-Toews-Tavares
Perry-Getzlaf-Couture

Keith-Doughty
Reilly-Weber
Vlasic-Subban

Price
Crawford

I think Perry, Getzlaf, Weber will be replaced with younger/faster options.
I love your idea of McDavid in the middle of Benn and Seguin.

 

[Chaels Arms]

It hurts me to say this as a USA fan but Canada really deserves some recognition for the group character of their international teams. Think about it... every single one of these players is the best player on his NHL team and yet they show up when called at these tournaments and just do whatever is needed. Oh you need me to play wing even though I'm a top 10 center in the world? Sure thing. Need me to play the fourth line even though I average 24 minutes a night? I can do that. That's something I don't think these Canadian teams get enough credit for.

 

[la25ecoupe]

Stamkos is back in the mix

 

[Burr14]

Marchand-Crosby-Bergeron
Seguin-McDavid-Benn
Tavares-Getzlaf-Stamkos
O'Reilly-Toews-Duchene
Mackinnon, Scheiffle

Keith-Doughty
Vlasic-Weber
Pietrangelo-Ekblad
Burns

Price
Holtby

 

[Iceman]

Whoever Canadian player that play in Europe.

 

[JackSlater]

Hearing TSN and even the players talk about complacency really makes it seem like Canada should inject some new blood going forward, behind the bench and on the ice. 2018 is a good time to try it (if NHL allows) since that tournament should still feature relatively weak opposition. It's funny to think that no team has more talent to add to its roster than Canada does, but it's clearly true with only USA in the same ballpark.

 

[bbfan419]

Marchand-Crosby-Bergeron
Benn-McDavid-Seguin
Tavares-Toews-Stamkos
Hall-Duchene-McKinnon
Monahan-Getzlaf

Ekblad-Doughty
Keith-Burns
Brodie-Pietrangelo
Vlasic

Murray
Price
Holtby

 

[westc2]

Trying to select the 2022 lineup would be a lot more interesting.

 

[JackSlater]

Trying to select the 2022 lineup would be a lot more interesting.

Canada starts looking a lot more vulnerable in 2022.