U18: 2021 USA U-18 Roster

[Artorius Horus T]

I blame your disappointing tournament for poor team selection.
There were several players who should've been there, and too many who shouldn't.

I mean, for one, who right minded person would drop someone like Maddox Fleming from the team..
dude is an insanely amazing skater, and amazingly skilled center, Maddox will go in the top 5-8, in the 2022 Draft.

Red Savage, Liam Gilmartin, Ryan St.Louis, Marek Hejduk, Justin Janicke
- none of those forwards should've been picked

PS. Why didn't Braden Holt play a single game????

 

[SK94]

Some point the streak was going to end but pretty unfortunate that it happened like this. Lot of missing players and once again bad coaching. When USA Hockey learns their lessons? It is crazy how many times our coaches are out coached by opponent. It is also worrying direction because now U18s have on only one gold in last five tournaments. Before that it was six in seven.

 

[OldScool]

Just get the U18’s off the ice, let the U17’s play. What an awful group the 2002’s are.

this is the 2003 class. Last years 2002 didn’t get to compete in this tournament since they cancelled it. The 2002 class was waaaaaay better than this team. Not close.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

USA Hockey's biggest weakness at all levels is team management, in particular coaching. The USNTDP has been a boon to player development and the NHL draft but it's highly political and doesn't always result in the right person for the job. That said, let's acknowledge the reality that at this particular event Canada was likely going to stomp everyone on it's march to gold. They have virtually all of their big names at their disposal which normally doesn't happen because of the CHL schedule and the timing of this u18s.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

On an individual basis.

Goalies: Mbereko played decent, but he couldn't stay on the ice in this tournament. We needed him to. Not completely his fault though. Homer was bad. I don't want to be too critical. It's hard to put a positive spin on his play though. Holt, why didn't we see him play? He couldn't have been much worse than some of the goaltending we got.

Defensemen: Schmidt was awful. Couldn't move the puck out of his own zone, and unusually poor defensively in this tournament. Behrens was a turnover machine. It didn't help that he and Schmidt were dragging each other down. Hreschuk was mediocre. Not enough of an impact. This guy's supposed to be a first or second round pick. I don't want to judge a player too much on one small tournament, but he needs to make more of a positive impact. He's too passive in how he plays. Gallagher was probably the only good defensemen among the 2003's, although his play trailed off at the end of the tournament.

Hutson was really good, especially in his offensive game. That was one area I wasn't completely sure about this season for a player his size, but he really did well in creating scoring chances in this tournament. Chesley had a good tournament, but he played so infrequently. He'd get like 4 shifts per period. He did well in those shifts, but why didn't he switch roles with Schmidt at some point in the tournament? Murchison got a raw deal. He wasn't good in this tournament, and his role should've decreased as the tournament went on, but eventually he was utilized as if he was scratched. He didn't deserve that. Straky isn't very good. He was predictably mediocre.

Forwards: Pastujov was great. Duke wasn't as noticeable as I'd like, but certainly not a problem. I really liked Cooley's play in all zones in this tournament. Hughes was decent. McGroarty had a weak tournament. No doubt about it, but Howard wasn't much better, and he got PP time McGroarty didn't get. We needed more of an impact from those guys, but some of that is on coaching and how they were utilized. Savage was pretty much what you'd expect. Good defensive impact, good on face-offs, not a liability in the offense zone, but not a huge offensive impact. His line was overplayed. Janicke was pretty underwhelming, but I thought the last game was his best. I think he's been misused more than almost any player on this team. They've turned him into a grinder.

Gilmartin had a weak tournament, but I didn't like how he was moved down for Devine after a few bad games. That seemed too reactionary. I thought Stramel had a pretty inconsistent tournament. Some really nice offensive flashes and also some good defensive play, but he also took some bad penalties. Thats probably to be expected for a 2023 draft eligible. Devine and St. Louis aren't good. Not sure the expectations could've been too high. Hejduk was on the team, but did he even see the ice during the tournament?

 

[PuckProspects]

It's tough to blame the coaching for the results of this tournament with half the team missing but I agree the coaching has been bad all year. It seemed like there wasn't much focus on creativity and the whole game plan was shoot and crash the net. The amount of shots that missed high short side was insane all season and the coaches did nothing to fix it.

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

Where do the future of St Louis and Hedjuk lie ?

 

[William H Bonney]

Where do the future of St Louis and Hedjuk lie ?

No one would care about either prospect if they had different last names.

 

[William H Bonney]

I wasn't able to see every minute of every game, but I'm not that surprised the team crashed and burned. The '03 age group didn't progress like you would have hoped from their U17 season and the birth year never had the high-end talent to compensate for losing their best forward (Lucius), best defenseman (Hughes), most creative forward (Wilmer), and most imposing forward (Boucher). Add in the management staff made some boneheaded decisions for how to handle those missing players and the goaltending was one of the weakest pairs the NTDP has ever had, and you had a recipe for disaster.

Some thoughts:

• The coaching staff and USAH management handled the '04 promotions in the worst way possible.
  • Nazar is not only the most complete '04 forward, but he's also the most dynamic, and he would have been able to contribute at this level. His exclusion was always unjustifiable and a huge mistake by USAH.
  • McGroarty showed nothing during his time with the U18s to indicate he was ready for a promotion and it showed at the tournament. He's not dominant enough with his lack of foot speed to play above his age group yet.
  • You could have picked a name out of a hat and ended up with someone more deserving than Hejduk for a promotion, and that player would have actually been a potential contributor, unlike Hejduk.
  • Chesley should have been up with the U18s already and playing a top 4 role instead of being a late addition.
  • Guys like Gautier, Kaplan, Casey, etc. would have been better fits on the team versus some other guys that were chosen, and all were better than numerous U18s that were there.
• The goaltending was weak, but to be fair, Mbereko played above his normal standards at the tournament, even if he couldn't stay healthy.
  
• Too many '03s who showed promise as U17 were poor as U18s and worthless at the tournament. A guy like Janicke regressed badly.
• Unfortunately, the U18 injuries + the poorly handled U17 promotions, meant guys like St. Louis, Straky, Murchison, Schmidt, etc. were playing prominent roles instead of limited minutes if they even should have been on the team.
• The team needed some U18s to step up in light of all of this, and none of them did. Behrens and Hreschuk were average at best, and forwards like Duke, Hughes, Savage, etc. didn't elevate their games despite elevated roles.
• The coaching staff didn't do enough to adjust to what they were seeing. The U17s who were showing well (Hutson, Chesley, Stramel, Howard) needed more ice time and the no-show U18s (St. Louis, Janicke, etc.) should have been watching the games.
• We'll see what happens with Coach Muse, but when you inherit a team and most of the players don't improve and many regress, while you lead USAH to its first non-medal since 2003 and first QF exit since 2001, you probably don't deserve a guaranteed 2nd season.

 

[William H Bonney]

On the bright side, hopefully, this is a wake-up call to USAH, even if there's no reason to expect it. USAH uses their success at the U18s to hide their obvious issues, but the success is overstated (much like Canada's Hlinka success), and a monumental failure like this should lead to changes. The program's goalie development has gone in the toilet in recent years, too many players are chosen based on their name and not their play, and they reward program tenure more than talent when push comes to shove.

 

[canuck2010]

Always a pleasure to read your thoughts on USAH teams. The knowledge and thought process that you display on the choosing of players is almost that of an insider and consistently on the mark in my opinion.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I think USA Hockey needs to stop collecting every dual like they're Pokemon. When there was a dearth of junior aged American talent it made sense to go after everyone eligible to represent the U.S. but it's not like that anymore. A lot of kids have famous last names and there is a certain cache to that I suppose but a lot of them don't pan out and aren't worth the slot they take up with the USNTDP.

 

[OldScool]

On the bright side, hopefully, this is a wake-up call to USAH, even if there's no reason to expect it. USAH uses their success at the U18s to hide their obvious issues, but the success is overstated (much like Canada's Hlinka success), and a monumental failure like this should lead to changes. The program's goalie development has gone in the toilet in recent years, too many players are chosen based on their name and not their play, and they reward program tenure more than talent when push comes to shove.

Programs goalie development has recently produced a 1st round and 2nd round nhl draft pick...

 

[William H Bonney]

Programs goalie development has recently produced a 1st round and 2nd round nhl draft pick...

Spencer Knight was an elite goalie before he entered the NTDP and Commesso was highly touted. The program receives far too many resources for how often they strike out each year with their goalie scouting and development. The '03, '00, '99 classes were complete busts, and the '04 goalies haven't inspired confidence either. It's not realistic yo expect a Knight every class, but it's inexcusable for the NTDP to whiff as much as it does on goalies.

 

[ORRFForever]

No one would care about either prospect if they had different last names.

Made me smile. Well said.

 

[chaser17]

I think USA Hockey needs to stop collecting every dual like they're Pokemon. When there was a dearth of junior aged American talent it made sense to go after everyone eligible to represent the U.S. but it's not like that anymore. A lot of kids have famous last names and there is a certain cache to that I suppose but a lot of them don't pan out and aren't worth the slot they take up with the USNTDP.

Its part of the current climate and almost like an arms race, both Canada and the USA are likely promising these players too much just to get them to commit to the program incase they turn out to be good. The Foote brothers represented Canada but I mean can you really blame them considering their father was a Canadian olympian? Then the US has responded by grabbing guys like Sanderson and Bordeleau just to name a couple.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Its part of the current climate and almost like an arms race, both Canada and the USA are likely promising these players too much just to get them to commit to the program incase they turn out to be good. The Foote brothers represented Canada but I mean can you really blame them considering their father was a Canadian olympian? Then the US has responded by grabbing guys like Sanderson and Bordeleau just to name a couple.

That's fair. I'm not saying the U.S. hasn't benefited, I just like we can be a little more selective at this point.

 

[Mehar]

I think USA Hockey needs to stop collecting every dual like they're Pokemon. When there was a dearth of junior aged American talent it made sense to go after everyone eligible to represent the U.S. but it's not like that anymore. A lot of kids have famous last names and there is a certain cache to that I suppose but a lot of them don't pan out and aren't worth the slot they take up with the USNTDP.

Which dual citizens that got a slot on the USNTDP, should not have gotten them from your perspective? I was just curious to hear your take.

 

[canuck2010]

I think USA Hockey needs to stop collecting every dual like they're Pokemon. When there was a dearth of junior aged American talent it made sense to go after everyone eligible to represent the U.S. but it's not like that anymore. A lot of kids have famous last names and there is a certain cache to that I suppose but a lot of them don't pan out and aren't worth the slot they take up with the USNTDP.

Guess USA Hockey didn't get the memo for your U17 tryouts.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Guess USA Hockey didn't get the memo for your U17 tryouts.

Yeah, well it's a work in progress. Lol.

 

[William H Bonney]

@Rabid Ranger is right, though. Burn down the old boys network at USAH.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Which dual citizens that got a slot on the USNTDP, should not have gotten them from your perspective? I was just curious to hear your take.

St. Louis and Brown from the current team.

Hejduk from the team below, although he actually made it onto the World Championship team somehow.