I'd love to hear TSN's (specifically, Bob MacKenzie's) thoughts on the last couple of weeks of action, and what their sources are telling them about Kunitz and Neal in particular. The last "projected" roster I saw the fellas from TSN present was on a Darren Dreger podcast (I believe), from a few weeks ago. As a note, I am not sure if these are Dreger's personal projections, or whether he was speaking on behalf of the TSN crew. And, take these with a grain of salt; they portray these projections as being sourced from insiders and those close to HC, but you never really know:
Forwards:
Couture - Crosby - Stamkos
Staal - Getzlaf - Perry
Benn - Toews - Nash
Marleau - Tavares - Carter
Kunitz, Giroux
Short-list:
- Duchene
- St. Louis
- Bergeron
- Sharp
Defence:
Keith - Doughty
Vlasic - Weber
Bouwmeester - Pietrangelo
??? - Suban
Short-list:
- Hamhuis
- Staal
- Boyle
- Seabrook
Goal:
- Price
- Luongo
- Smith
- Overall, the goaltender situation seems to be locked-down. I can't recall if any other candidates were mentioned, but you have to think that HC is still keeping their eye on Crawford and Bernier for that 3rd spot.
- On defence, Dreger has the top 7 spots locked-down, and seems inclined to think that HC is leaning towards Hamhuis for the 8th spot. Not a bad decision, IMO. LHed D-man, very reliable defensively, very good skater, 5 World Championships under his belt (so understands the game on the big ice), and someone that's not going to hurt us at all if he dresses as the 7th D-man for a few games. I don't think the D corps is controversial.
- Forwards: This is where things get more interesting. Dreger heavily alluded to this being the final short-list of 18 forwards. Note - Neal is absent; this list was put together during his recent suspension, shortly after his previous hot streak. Also absent is Taylor Hall. Personally I'm not a fan of this group of forwards, and would definitely like to see all four "bubble" players - Sharp, Duchene, St. Louis, and Bergeron - on the final roster, in replacement of Kunitz, Benn, Nash and Staal. I understand the case for Kunitz (but simply don't agree), and also understand the case for Nash and, to a lesser extent Staal. Both of those guys are seriously underperforming this year, but I realize there's a good chance of them being on the roster based on name recognition only. It reminds me quite a bit of 2006, but I digress. I also don't get the love for Benn. Really good player, but we have others who are more experienced, and better suited for the style of play on the international ice. We've heard Babcock speak about selecting players with strong resumes, and Benn would have by far the weakest resume of anyone in the forward group (0 NHL playoff games; 1 World Championships).
Re: Neal. He's a better hockey player than Kunitz and has a skill set that Team Canada can actually utilize (even if its only on the PP), but he has a track record of undisciplined and at times dirty play. I also haven't been a fan of his playoff performances the last two years - against Philly in 2012, and Boston in 2013. Those two aspects, particular the lack of discipline, are what concern me the most. I wouldn't be surprised to see Hockey Canada go in a different direction because of this, even with Neal being absolutely on fire running up to Jan. 7. He seems to have taken his game to a new level this year, so it will be interesting to see if Neal starts popping up on these projections.