WJC: Canada 2019 Roster Talk

[Adonis Creed]

Bowers will have a very good chance as 3rd or 4th line C...perfect fit there

 

[Ivan13]

Perhaps. Honestly I just don't like Bowers. I also suppose that there is a remote possibility that my prediction for the roster next year is wrong. Stranger things have happened.

Why? Not trying to be an ass, I'm just honestly curious. Kid is having an amazing season, putting up fantastic numbers in the NCAA as a freshman, and being heralded as more of a defense first, checking forward rather than a scoring one.

 

[1Gold Standard]

Extremely early stab at a roster here. There are a few things I've noticed. Canada has a ton of RHD prospects for next year. There is really good size at forward if Hockey Canada wants that. Theoretically there could be a line of Ratcliffe (6'6) Rasmussen (6'6) Noel (6'5) just for a specific example. The defence really should favour 2000s, as noted in the thread. Canadian trained players on USA could hurt next year with the Hughes brothers and Wilde. Lots of puck moving defencemen but not great size. A surprising amount of the top forwards available have experience on the wing.

Thomas Glass Rasmussen
Comtois Thomas Suzuki
Lafreniere Frost Mattheos
Formenton Vilardi Tippett
McBain

Smith Dobson
Woo Bouchard
Joseph Mitchell
Addison

DiPietro

looks pretty similar to my roster, but I haven't looked at it in 4-5 months.

I meant to DM you over the holidays, but remember last summer I told you that if you ran in to MacKinnon at the bar in Cole Harbour tell him to change up his off season fitness routine, well, looks as though he got the message! Going gangbusters. I've waiting a few years for this. It would be great if he can put a dent in the playoffs this spring and not with Team Canada in May in Denmark.

 

[JackSlater]

Why? Not trying to be an ass, I'm just honestly curious. Kid is having an amazing season, putting up fantastic numbers in the NCAA as a freshman, and being heralded as more of a defense first, checking forward rather than a scoring one.

I don't like how he handled his situation with Cape Breton. I can somewhat understand guys from Quebec being reluctant to come to Cape Breton, but it left a particularly bad taste in my mouth when Bowers did it and held out for Halifax. He's from Nova Scotia and he could have played with talent like Dubois, Lazarev, Svechnikov and later Batherson. I recognize that he seems to be playing well and I did originally have him as thirteenth forward. He seems like a very reasonable candidate for a depth role, I just don't care for him.

looks pretty similar to my roster, but I haven't looked at it in 4-5 months.

I meant to DM you over the holidays, but remember last summer I told you that if you ran in to MacKinnon at the bar in Cole Harbour tell him to change up his off season fitness routine, well, looks as though he got the message! Going gangbusters. I've waiting a few years for this. It would be great if he can put a dent in the playoffs this spring and not with Team Canada in May in Denmark.

I didn't see MacKinnon at a bar, but yes he is a beast this year. I don't know if he's slimmed down from how huge he was in that summer but I wouldn't be surprised. I have MacKinnon easily making the Canadian Olympic roster if a best on best Olympics were to take place. He's been a top ten forward in the NHL this year and it's good to see.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Keep an eye on Shane Bowers. Guy is having a tremendous season as a freshman. Plays on the same team as Brady Tkachuk who everybody is drooling over right now and has the same amount of points in the same amount of games. Tkachuk and Bowers are actually the same age too (Bowers born July 30 and Tkachuk September 16). Plus Bowers is known more as a two way guy/power forward than an offensive dynamo but there's a reason why Bowers was arguably the biggest prospect to come from the atlantic since Mackinnon and that wasn't all because of his game away from the puck.

 

[Ivan13]

I don't like how he handled his situation with Cape Breton. I can somewhat understand guys from Quebec being reluctant to come to Cape Breton, but it left a particularly bad taste in my mouth when Bowers did it and held out for Halifax. He's from Nova Scotia and he could have played with talent like Dubois, Lazarev, Svechnikov and later Batherson. I recognize that he seems to be playing well and I did originally have him as thirteenth forward. He seems like a very reasonable candidate for a depth role, I just don't care for him.



I didn't see MacKinnon at a bar, but yes he is a beast this year. I don't know if he's slimmed down from how huge he was in that summer but I wouldn't be surprised. I have MacKinnon easily making the Canadian Olympic roster if a best on best Olympics were to take place. He's been a top ten forward in the NHL this year and it's good to see.

Fair enough.

 

[Dodospice]

I’ve put together a much more extensive list of guys that could be invited but based on what Canada usually brings to the summer camp (about 40 skaters and 4 goalies), this is the summer camp roster that I project. Some guys won’t get invited and like I said there is a long list of other potential players:

F:
1- Robert Thomas C R 99
2- Cody Glass C R 99
3- Shane Bowers C L 99
4- Joe Veleno C L 00
5- Jack Studnicka C R 99
6- Morgan Frost C L 99
7- Antoine Morand C L 99
8- Ryan McLeod C L 99
9- Maxime Comtois LW L 99
10- Alexis Lafreniere LW L 01
11- Alex Formenton LW L 99
12- Barrett Hayton C L 00
13- Michael Rasmussen C L 99
14- Benoit-Olivier Groulx C L 00
15- Jaret Anderson-Dolan C L 99
16- Isaac Ratcliffe LW L 99
17- MacKenzie Entwistle RW R 99
18- Riley Sutter RW R 99
19- Nick Suzuki C R 99
20- Stelio Mattheos C R 99
21- Owen Tippett RW R 99
22- Serron Noel RW R 00
23- Akil Thomas C R 00
24- Gabe Vilardi C R 99
25- Jake Leschyshyn C 99
26- Jack McBain C L 00

D:
1- Ty Smith L 00
2- Jared McIsaac L 00
3- Pierre-Olivier Joseph L 99
4- Markus Phillips L 99
5- David Noel L 99
6- Jonathan Tychonick L 00
7- Jarrett Tyszka L 99
8- Ryan Merkley R 00
9- Evan Bouchard R 99
10- Calen Addison R 00
11- Jett Woo R 00
12- Josh Brook R 99
13- Noah Dobson R 00
14- Ian Mitchell R 99

G:
1- Michael DiPietro 99
2- Ian Scott 99
3- Olivier Rodrigue 00
4- Alexis Gravel 00

 

[Dodospice]

My projected roster:
Frost- R. Thomas- Suzuki
Lafreniere- Glass- Tippett
Formenton- Bowers- Vilardi
Comtois- Studnicka- A. Thomas
Rasmussen

Smith- Dobson
Joseph- Bouchard
Phillips- Mitchell
Woo

DiPietro
Scott

It wouldn’t surprise me to see this team lose some combination of players out of R. Thomas, Glass and Tippett up front. If this was the case I’d probably say that Mattheos, Anderson-Dolan and Hayton being the next front runners on my imaginary team.

The left side of the ice doesn’t excite me that much but Smith and Joseph should be locks, I can see HC liking McIsaac more than Phillips and I can’t say I’d disagree but at this point I feel like Phillips would just be the better fit. The right side is absolutely loaded, Dobson and Bouchard are locks for me, Addison, Woo, Brook and Mitchell would all be fighting for the last spot on the right side and the 7th D spot for me. I’d bring Merkley to camp in the summer and if his defensive game improves by next year give him a real look but right now it’s not at the level it needs to be and with so many other strong options, I pass.

In net it’s really a fight for the back up spot. There is probably 5 guys battling for that spot but I went with Scott. Rodrigue and Gravel are there because I think they’ll be great next year but Villalta and Welsh could also garner invites if they keep up their strong play. Welsh has been lights out this year in the Q.

 

[Dominance]

I’ve put together a much more extensive list of guys that could be invited but based on what Canada usually brings to the summer camp (about 40 skaters and 4 goalies), this is the summer camp roster that I project. Some guys won’t get invited and like I said there is a long list of other potential players:

F:
1- Robert Thomas C R 99
2- Cody Glass C R 99
3- Shane Bowers C L 99
4- Joe Veleno C L 00
5- Jack Studnicka C R 99
6- Morgan Frost C L 99
7- Antoine Morand C L 99
8- Ryan McLeod C L 99
9- Maxime Comtois LW L 99
10- Alexis Lafreniere LW L 01
11- Alex Formenton LW L 99
12- Barrett Hayton C L 00
13- Michael Rasmussen C L 99
14- Benoit-Olivier Groulx C L 00
15- Jaret Anderson-Dolan C L 99
16- Isaac Ratcliffe LW L 99
17- MacKenzie Entwistle RW R 99
18- Riley Sutter RW R 99
19- Nick Suzuki C R 99
20- Stelio Mattheos C R 99
21- Owen Tippett RW R 99
22- Serron Noel RW R 00
23- Akil Thomas C R 00
24- Gabe Vilardi C R 99
25- Jake Leschyshyn C 99
26- Jack McBain C L 00

D:
1- Ty Smith L 00
2- Jared McIsaac L 00
3- Pierre-Olivier Joseph L 99
4- Markus Phillips L 99
5- David Noel L 99
6- Jonathan Tychonick L 00
7- Jarrett Tyszka L 99
8- Ryan Merkley R 00
9- Evan Bouchard R 99
10- Calen Addison R 00
11- Jett Woo R 00
12- Josh Brook R 99
13- Noah Dobson R 00
14- Ian Mitchell R 99

G:
1- Michael DiPietro 99
2- Ian Scott 99
3- Olivier Rodrigue 00
4- Alexis Gravel 00

Thanks for putting this list together!

I’d run with the following, but am kinda shaky on certain positionings.

Ratcliffe-Glass-Suzuki
JAD-Thomas-Tippett
Lafreniere-Frost-Vilardi
Formenton-Bowers-Comtois
Rasmussen

Joseph-Brook
Smith-Dobson
Woo-Bouchard
Mitchell

Dipietro-Scott

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

The ignoring of Matthew Villalta is disappointing in this thread. He's going to push DiPietro hard for the starting position. Good chance we'll see Villalta at the Memorial Cup this season.

 

[MMC]

No Dach/Krebs?

 

[TheBeastCoast]

No Dach/Krebs?

They would need to take a pretty big step forward next season. There are a ton of great '19 eligible forwards next year. Who out of them stands out next season, who knows.

 

[Get North]

Always fun to predict a team from a year out, but here's my guess:

Rasmussen-Glass-Vilardi
Formenton-Frost-Suzuki
Ratcliffe-Thomas-Mattheos
Comtois-Bowers-Noel
Ben Jones

Smith-Bouchard
Joseph-Woo
Tychonick-Dobson
Mitchell

Dipietro
Gravel

I think the template of the team should be set from this year. Size and speed. This team has a lot of players who have size AND can skate, Ratcliffe, Rasmussen, Formenton, Noel are big, but also the top skaters on the forward group. Defense is skilled and can move the puck despite being young, that shouldn't matter. These guys are the best of their age group without a doubt. You can add guys like Entwhistle, Strome, Studnicka who are 6'2+ and can skate pretty well. A lot of forwards like that, but take a few and then put the rest on skill and skating (Frost, Thomas, Suzuki, Bowers).

 

[Dodospice]

The ignoring of Matthew Villalta is disappointing in this thread. He's going to push DiPietro hard for the starting position. Good chance we'll see Villalta at the Memorial Cup this season.

Villalta was on my short list of 5-6 goalies to really consider for a spot, I rolled with a few others but easily could have replaced them with Villalta.

 

[Dodospice]

Good list. I made one myself over christmas and had just a few guys that I wrote down that you don't have (even though I know you said it wasn't an exhaustive list). Most are 2000's so probably have a small chance of making it but you never know how guys are going to do becoming an upper year player in the CHL.

LW- Nolan Foote, Gabriel Fortier
RW- Serron Noel, Akil Thomas
C- Ryan McLeod, B-O Groulx
D- David Noel, Jocktan Chainey, Scott Walford, Cameron Crotty
G- David Tendeck

I had all these guys on my larger list with the exception of Tendeck. I’d lean towards McBain coming off now and someone else going into camp. I did however have S. Noel, Thomas, McLeod, Groulx and D. Noel as camp invites with A. Thomas getting a spot.

 

[1Gold Standard]

Always fun to predict a team from a year out, but here's my guess:

Rasmussen-Glass-Vilardi
Formenton-Frost-Suzuki
Ratcliffe-Thomas-Mattheos
Comtois-Bowers-Noel
Ben Jones

Smith-Bouchard
Joseph-Woo
Tychonick-Dobson
Mitchell

Dipietro
Gravel

I think the template of the team should be set from this year. Size and speed. This team has a lot of players who have size AND can skate, Ratcliffe, Rasmussen, Formenton, Noel are big, but also the top skaters on the forward group. Defense is skilled and can move the puck despite being young, that shouldn't matter. These guys are the best of their age group without a doubt. You can add guys like Entwhistle, Strome, Studnicka who are 6'2+ and can skate pretty well. A lot of forwards like that, but take a few and then put the rest on skill and skating (Frost, Thomas, Suzuki, Bowers).

1st. chance I've had to take a look at 2019 since the end of the Buffalo tournament. (I've youtubed Steenbergen's goal everyday since Jan 5.)

not so sure about Bowers or Jones, but other than that I'm liking how next year's team is shaping up here. We'll probably lose 3-4 of those players to the NHL. Looking forward to the summer camp already.

 

[1Gold Standard]

I guess with this announcement of the summer prep camp in Kamloops, we can kick off the roster thread.

Kamloops happens to be my preferred summer vacay destination.

 

[Alberta tough]

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/canada-2019-roster-talk.2431689/

 

[Scott Stevens]

Kamloops happens to be my preferred summer vacay destination.

Why is that? I’m genuinely curious. Not being an ass.

 

[1Gold Standard]

Why is that? I’m genuinely curious. Not being an ass.

even though I grew up on the east coast, I spent summers on the west coast...from Nanaimo to Kelowna to Kamloops. My father retired there, so there's a residence in Kamloops. I didn't make it back last summer, but hoping to return this summer for 3 weeks.

 

[1Gold Standard]

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/canada-2019-roster-talk.2431689/

opps. it's been a hectic winter and spring. I forgot that a thread had been created.

Mods can merge the two.

 

[stv11]

opps. it's been a hectic winter and spring. I forgot that a thread had been created.

Mods can merge the two.

Done!

 

[cg98]

-

 

[JackSlater]

This past year was one of very few in which Canada had no 18 year olds (for WJC purposes) in the NHL. As always NHL impact will be important for the Canadian team. This isn't a Canadian group loaded with players who will obviously make the NHL, but things seem to be trending toward more teenagers making it. I'll guess that Canada loses roughly four players, all forwards.

 

[1Gold Standard]

This past year was one of very few in which Canada had no 18 year olds (for WJC purposes) in the NHL. As always NHL impact will be important for the Canadian team. This isn't a Canadian group loaded with players who will obviously make the NHL, but things seem to be trending toward more teenagers making it. I'll guess that Canada loses roughly four players, all forwards.

my guess would be:

Comtois, Tippett, Vilardi and Glass...but only 2 become regulars. The other 2 will be made available come Dec.12. at least that's my hope.