How Close in Talent Will Team USA be to Team Canada at Next International Meeting With NHLERS?

[razor8]

How close? I'd estimate about 10 inches.

 

[Bouboumaster]

I like the defensemen that the USA are producing right now. It's pretty insane. They might even be able to compete with Team Canada, in a couple of years.
Russia is upgrading too. Their weakness was always defense, but in 3 or years, they will be stacked as hell too.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

An easy exercise:

Form your best Canada and USA teams. Count how many players from Canada would make it on to the USA roster, and count how many players from the USA roster would make it on to the Canada roster.

 

[ItWasJustified]

Canada is absolutely the better team offensively and defensively on paper but there's soooo much skill on each team that either team could win on any given day.

You could say the exact same thing about all the 5 biggest hockey countries.

 

[ricky0034]

depends which players are at the timeshare meeting I guess

 

[hockeyisgud]

An easy exercise:

Form your beat Canada and USA teams. Count how many players from Canada would make it on to the USA roster, and count how many players from the USA roster would make it on to the Canada roster.

None of the American centers make it. Patrick Kane for sure on wing with good cases for Wheeler and Gaudreau. Jones and Carlson on D. Goalies are debatable.

 

[valet]

None of the American centers make it. Patrick Kane for sure on wing with good cases for Wheeler and Gaudreau. Jones and Carlson on D. Goalies are debatable.

I think 1 American C could make it (Eichel). But yeah, there's definitely a gap at many positions when it comes to forward depth.

 

[Jixer19]

I think 1 American C could make it (Eichel). But yeah, there's definitely a gap at many positions when it comes to forward depth.

The 4 centres for Canada are McDavid/Crosby/Bergeron/MacKinnon. Eichel is good, just not top 4 Canada good

 

[ruaware41]

Depends when that would be. Hypothetically if it’s the Olympics in 2022 Canada’s D would be fine with Doughty and AP anchoring it with Reilly, Chabot, Parayko, etc.

it gets a bit more questionable once AP and DD age out. USA future D core is better than what Canada is producing.

right side would then be Hamilton (2011), Parayko (2012), Dumba (2012), and Makar (2017)
Left side would be Reilly (2012), Chabot (2015), and Morrissey (2013)?

who else would be a future Canadian Dman?

USA with Jones, McAvoy, Warenski, Q Hughes, Trouba, Fox, Fowler, Slavin.

Canada d looks considerably weaker based off players today. You never know if Ap and DD will be as effective in 2022. Rielly of this season making the team is concerning as well. If he can go back to playing how he was then it's okay.

I'd still take USA's d core. Kind of sad

What the fook happened to top Canadian defencemen

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

The 4 centres for Canada are McDavid/Crosby/Bergeron/MacKinnon. Eichel is good, just not top 4 Canada good

I'm pretty sure Eichel would still make the team. Could easily move MacKinnon to the wing.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

I'm going to get flamed no matter what lineup I put but

McKinnon-McDavid-Kane
Tavares-Crosby-Marner
Matthews-Bergeron-Marchand
Eichel-Stamkos-Stone
Wheeler/Giroux/Seguin

I'm not going to even attempt defense, but it looks like comparatively USA has about 2-3 players that would make the forward group

 

[Claypool]

I know Team CAN could ice three or four teams, but keeping to the one, how to they matchup?

Canada's B and C teams would never win against the best international teams. Just look at the World Championships. I don't know why people keep bringing this up.

As far as the US/Canada matchup, the main concern I would have for Canada is in net. Since 2008 only two Canadian goaltenders have won the Vezina, Holtby and Price, and both of them are rapidly declining with no help in sight. Canada is no longer producing superstar goaltending.

 

[Eternal Leaf]

Canada’s team is way too stacked right now.

Crosby’s battle-hardened line is already nuts then you put Mcdavid with two superstars on his wing. Who is going to stop that?

We haven’t even got to the bottom 6 filled with elite players.

It might feel close but it’s really not. Maybe in the future.

 

[firstemperor]

Canada is too stacked right now.......but in a 1 game elimination, anything can happen. I do think it'll be tough for US to win in a BO7 though (but it's possible because goaltending can be game-breaking).

 

[Miri]

Canada still edges it in terms of talent, but the difference is not too big. I would say whoever wins is in this case more down to coaching, line/teammate chemistry, bigger drive to win and pure old luck on any given day, than this difference in skill and overall quality. Maybe, in close and tight affair, one moment of pure individual brilliance could decide and then Canada has the right now probably 3 best players in the world, so i guess thats makes them more likely to win, but its not like Kane, Eichel or Matthews could not do it either.

Anyway, i would be more interested how Finland stacks up. They have Barkov, Rantanen, Aho, Laine, Teravainen, Kakko, Kotkaniemi, Lindell.... that is Lot of high-end young quality players. I do envy them, as a Slovak, they are similarly small country in terms of how many people live there, yet have such a great team....when around here it went to complete shit.... with only notable player lately being Erik Cernak and thats like it. Good for the Finns, though.

 

[NyQuil]

I think it’s close enough for either team to win in a tournament format.

 

[ChiefWiggum]

I think it will be more of the same. If we look at the world junior championship in recent years as a measure of future senior aged success, then Canada has won 3 of the past 6 tournaments and USA has only one championship during that six year stretch and Canada still had a 4-2 lead in the third period of that game.

The wildcard for the USA is whether the American players who played on Team North America in 2016 such as Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews and Seth Jones will be good enough to push them closer to Canada, but that is hard to believe when that same North American team will give Canada players like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Morgan Rielly and Sean Couturier.

So I believe that Team USA will still be very competitive with Canada along with Russia and possibly Sweden, but Canada will remain a level above them.

 

[txpd]

USA with Jones, McAvoy, Warenski, Q Hughes, Trouba, Fox, Fowler, Slavin.

Carlson? You know he is not Swedish. Right?

 

[txpd]

He didn't name McDonagh or Suter either. It seems like he was trying to name younger defensemen.

Well, Ryan Suter is 34. John Carlson is 29.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

I do not think this is the case anymore.

Gone are the days of Orpik playing for team USA.

Canada definitely has an edge on offensive talent but the USA youth is better than ever and the defense should be impressive as well.

It would be nice to have the Olympics back.

Lol at blaming Orpik. Orpik played 3 Olympic Games
against Canada. Lost 2 and won 1. He lost in games
where Canada scored 4 GOALS TOTAL. Yeah
but lets blame Orpik...lol. What a terrible take.

 

[RorschachWJK]

I think the best 23-man rosters are already even

The difference is that Canada could send four teams that could win a best-on-best tournament.

Sure, even a beer league team COULD win a best-on-best tourney. It is extremely unlikely though. I don't think Canada's number 4 or number 3 team would have much of a chance. Number 2 team perhaps would.

 

[Yackiberg8]

Canada still edges it in terms of talent, but the difference is not too big. I would say whoever wins is in this case more down to coaching, line/teammate chemistry, bigger drive to win and pure old luck on any given day, than this difference in skill and overall quality. Maybe, in close and tight affair, one moment of pure individual brilliance could decide and then Canada has the right now probably 3 best players in the world, so i guess thats makes them more likely to win, but its not like Kane, Eichel or Matthews could not do it either.

Anyway, i would be more interested how Finland stacks up. They have Barkov, Rantanen, Aho, Laine, Teravainen, Kakko, Kotkaniemi, Lindell.... that is Lot of high-end young quality players. I do envy them, as a Slovak, they are similarly small country in terms of how many people live there, yet have such a great team....when around here it went to complete ****.... with only notable player lately being Erik Cernak and thats like it. Good for the Finns, though.

Finland has some high end talent but it drops off to Kakko, Kotkaniemi, Lindell fairly quick. Those players aren’t high-end talent at this point and whether they reach that level is still questionable.

 

[danpantz]

The 4 centres for Canada are McDavid/Crosby/Bergeron/MacKinnon. Eichel is good, just not top 4 Canada good

Bergeron and Crosby usually play on a line together with Marchand right? Or at least they did in the World cup.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

An easy exercise:

Form your best Canada and USA teams. Count how many players from Canada would make it on to the USA roster, and count how many players from the USA roster would make it on to the Canada roster.

There was a bigger disparity in 2010 and the US won
the RR game and lost in OT in the GM game.
The Olympics are one off games so the US is
certainly capable of winning a one off against
Canada.

Legit chance by 2022 Eichel/Matthews are more
impactful than Crosby/Bergeron.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Bergeron and Crosby usually play on a line together with Marchand right? Or at least they did in the World cup.

In 2 years its more than likely Eichel and Matthews
are more impactful than Bergeron. Eichel is
very close right now. In 2 years absolutely.

No one knows what happens with Crosby coming back.