What is your team Canada roster today?

[JackSlater]

One of the aspects of the World Championships that I find fascinating is that you can sometimes see a player emerging into a future role at that tournament.

Brent Burns, Ryan O'Reilly, now Mark Stone, you had these guys with talent but who really stepped up for Canada and then parlayed that into a step up in expectations for their NHL play.

It does happen sometimes. I think MacKinnon fits too. he was dominant that the 2017 tournament even though his 2017 season was quite mediocre. He's been at a much higher level ever since.

 

[86Habs]

I've been an O'Reilly supporter for quite some time now. For me he was a pretty easy add to the 2018 Olympic team and would be an easy addition to a 2020 World Cup team. Looks like he's probably made those thoughts look reasonable now.

I'd hope that the coach runs the forward lines pretty evenly at even strength ad the McDavid and Tavares lines would avoid defensive zone starts when possible. I could see moving up O'Reilly to the McDavid line, with Hall going to the Scheifele line, to provide more balance if necessary. This leaves the Scheifele line more susceptible though. If Babcock were the coach I imagine that he would be looking for a faceoff guy on every line. Marner is very debatable to me. I'm not sure how a playmaking winger would do on team Canada, and if Seguin or Stamkos were at their goal scoring best I would lean toward them. With Tavares playing more as a finisher in Toronto this year however I could see the line functioning in an almost typical manner, plus Giroux is accustomed to playing with a playmaking RW in Voracek. I suppose overall it is a good problem to have.

I'm with you on O'Reilly. He was a late add to the 2016 World Cup and ended up doing a really good job in the #4C role. I would have had him on my 2018 Olympic roster as well. Versatile player, and the heir apparent to Bergeron/Toews as the defensive center stud on Team Canada (if best-on-best tournaments ever end up happening again).

A lot of things depend on coaching, including the focus on faceoff ability. Honestly, most coaches won't care as much as Babcock does. Will Babcock be back as coach of Team Canada? I hope not, and don't think he will. Time to turn the page. As you mentioned, as a result you may also see more playmaking wingers, which is something Canada has shied away from recently (e.g., Martin St. Louis)

 

[PecnoTrunk]

Hall -- McDavid -- MacKinnon
Marchand - Crosby - Bergeron
Scheifele ---Tavares --- Marner
Stamkos/benn --- O'Rielly -- Seguin
(Where is the love for PLD ??? ) - Stone - Couturier - Huberdeau - Lafranierre (for the young)

Chabot/Paryeko/Morissey/Ekblad/Nurse
?? - Doughty
Rielly - ??
Burns ------ ??

no more Giroux/Toews (i almost put Bergeron here also)

 

[cg98]

Hall -- McDavid -- MacKinnon
Marchand - Crosby - Bergeron
Scheifele ---Tavares --- Marner
Stamkos/benn --- O'Rielly -- Seguin
(Where is the love for PLD ??? ) - Stone - Couturier - Huberdeau - Lafranierre (for the young)

Chabot/Paryeko/Morissey/Ekblad/Nurse
?? - Doughty
Rielly - ??
Burns ------ ??

no more Giroux/Toews (i almost put Bergeron here also)

Lafreniere is nowhere near close to being ready.

 

[Gold Standard]

Lafreniere is nowhere near close to being ready.

and probably won't be until he's the tender age of 21-22 with a few years of NHL experience in his back pocket.

If he dominates the WJHC at Christmas, like some are predicting, then I do hope it buys him an invite to the WHC in Switzerland next May. We'll at least get some small idea of where he's at on the development curve.

I'm not expecting him to dominate the WJHC, but do hope he surprises me.

 

[RSeen]

Hall -- McDavid -- MacKinnon
Marchand - Crosby - Bergeron
Scheifele ---Tavares --- Marner
Stamkos/benn --- O'Rielly -- Seguin
(Where is the love for PLD ??? ) - Stone - Couturier - Huberdeau - Lafranierre (for the young)

Chabot/Paryeko/Morissey/Ekblad/Nurse
?? - Doughty
Rielly - ??
Burns ------ ??

no more Giroux/Toews (i almost put Bergeron here also)

No way Stone should be an extra. He is a regular without a doubt.

 

[JackFr]

Hall - McDavid - MacKinnon
Marchand - Crosby - Bergeron
Stamkos - Tavares - Marner
Giroux - O'Reilly - Stone
Seguin

Giordano - Burns
Chabot - Letang
Rielly - Parayko
Doughty

Holtby
Price
Murray

 

[Gold Standard]

The Boyz are back on the ice.

Can we get 1 more WHC out of Sid with Nate and McDavid. Come on, Sid. give us one more.

 

[SnizzMitch]

After reading about the possible 2021 WCOH I was wondering what a Team Canada roster would look like right now, assuming Mike Babcock isn’t the coach, and there's no team North America under 23 year's old. IMO this could be the best possible lineup:

Marchand-Bergeron-Crosby
Mackinnon-Mcdavid-Point
Marner-Tavares-Stamkos
Hall-Toews-Giroux
Stone/O’Reilly

Best forwards missed out: Scheifele, Seguin, Duchene, Huberdeau

Giordano-Burns
Rielly-Doughty
Chabot-Weber
Pietrangelo

Best defense missed out: Parayko, Letang, Subban, Dumba

Price
Holtby
Fleury


What are your thoughts? Any guys that should be there/shouldn’t? It’s really hard to pick on defense especially since guys like Weber/Doughty are aging.

 

[DJB]

Canadas biggest question for this tournament is going to be on defence.

 

[SHANNYPLAN]

Looks about right... USA & Sweden would probably look like:

USA
M.Tkachuk - Matthews - P.Kane
Gaudreau - - - Eichel - - Wheeler
DeBrincat - - Pavelski - - Kessel
Guentzel - - - Larkin - - - Keller

Werenski - Jones
Slavin - - Carlson
Krug - - - McAvoy

Gibson
Quick

SWEDEN
Forseberg - Backstrom - W.Nylander
Landeskog - Petterson - E.Lindholm
W.Karlsson - Zibanejad - Arvidsson
Johnsson - - - Backlund - - - Rakell

Hedman - Karlsson
Josi - - - - Klingberg
Ekholm - - - - -OEL

Rinne
Lundquist

 

[RamboZambo]

Looks about right... USA & Sweden would probably look like:

USA
M.Tkachuk - Matthews - P.Kane
Gaudreau - - - Eichel - - Wheeler
DeBrincat - - Pavelski - - Kessel
Guentzel - - - Larkin - - - Keller

Werenski - Jones
Slavin - - Carlson
Krug - - - McAvoy

Gibson
Quick

SWEDEN
Forseberg - Backstrom - W.Nylander
Landeskog - Petterson - E.Lindholm
W.Karlsson - Zibanejad - Arvidsson
Johnsson - - - Backlund - - - Rakell

Hedman - Karlsson
Josi - - - - Klingberg
Ekholm - - - - -OEL

Rinne
Lundquist

Josi, Rinne?????

 

[Get North]

Canadas biggest question for this tournament is going to be on defence.

Pietrangelo, Burns, and Doughty is still as good as it gets. The left side is tricky, but Vlasic, Rielly, Giordano, Keith and Chabot are better than what we’re used to (Bouwmeester/Muzzin). I don’t see a problem at all, Letang is coming off a great year. I guess there’s no alpha like a Pronger, but it’s all about handling the puck and skating. I’m glad Chabot and Rielly stepped up.

I would say the only category we lose is LD to Sweden and that has been the case for a few years. OEL and Hedman are tough to beat as first 2 LD.

 

[DJB]

Pietrangelo, Burns, and Doughty is still as good as it gets. The left side is tricky, but Vlasic, Rielly, Giordano, Keith and Chabot are better than what we’re used to (Bouwmeester/Muzzin). I don’t see a problem at all, Letang is coming off a great year. I guess there’s no alpha like a Pronger, but it’s all about handling the puck and skating. I’m glad Chabot and Rielly stepped up.

I would say the only category we lose is LD to Sweden and that has been the case for a few years. OEL and Hedman are tough to beat as first 2 LD.

Ya to me Reilly, Gio and Chabot look like our best 3 LD atm. Now is the time for Reilly and Chabot to be groomed to eventually take the torch from Burns, Doughty as our top Dmen on Canadian teams for the future.

 

[Gold Standard]

Sept 1 and I can smell hockey season in the air.

a lot of posts for the top 25 A Team roster. I thought I would change things up and post the next 25 B Team roster highlighting the up and comers with big team potential.

J Benn T Seguin A Mantha
J Huberdeau S Stamkos B Point
J Marchessault L Coutour M Barzal
J Schwartz S Monahan R Johansan
M Duchene J Skinner

T.J. Brodie T Barrie
J Morrissey K Letang
S Theodore R Ellis
C Parayko/C Makar

M Murray
J Bennington
M Jones


Yes, I have rookie Cale Makar debuting on the B team this year. a bit of an advance, but I have big expectations for him. I hope he lives up to them.

Marchessault is a bit of a stretch at his age, but he's still on the right side of 30 and if injuries come in to play with some of the A team wingers, he could be useful for the next couple of seasons.

Schwartz? If he can maintain the level of his spring playoff performance, he should be in the conversation. always liked the player.

Monahan? I didn't highlight him, but there's still a chance for him. It would be nice if he'd get off his ass and get over to a World Championship one of these years. but I'm not holding my breath.

Mantha, Barzal and Makar are on my watch list.

 

[QJL]

Sept 1 and I can smell hockey season in the air.

a lot of posts for the top 25 A Team roster. I thought I would change things up and post the next 25 B Team roster highlighting the up and comers with big team potential.

J Benn T Seguin A Mantha
J Huberdeau S Stamkos B Point
J Marchessault L Coutour M Barzal
J Schwartz S Monahan R Johansan
M Duchene J Skinner

T.J. Brodie T Barrie
J Morrissey K Letang
S Theodore R Ellis
C Parayko/C Makar

M Murray
J Bennington
M Jones


Yes, I have rookie Cale Makar debuting on the B team this year. a bit of an advance, but I have big expectations for him. I hope he lives up to them.

Marchessault is a bit of a stretch at his age, but he's still on the right side of 30 and if injuries come in to play with some of the A team wingers, he could be useful for the next couple of seasons.

Schwartz? If he can maintain the level of his spring playoff performance, he should be in the conversation. always liked the player.

Monahan? I didn't highlight him, but there's still a chance for him. It would be nice if he'd get off his ass and get over to a World Championship one of these years. but I'm not holding my breath.

Mantha, Barzal and Makar are on my watch list.

Marchessault is older than Seguin but he has a shot at the team and Seguin doesn’t? Stamkos is only 9 months older than Marchessault. Schwartz is just 5 months younger than Seguin. Seguin and Stamkos are on the brink. Marchessault and Schwartz are not.

I like your rosters but I think the wrong players are bolded when you talk about potential for Team Canada.

 

[ottawa]

Marner - McDavid - McKinnon
Marchand -Crosby - Scheifele
Tavares - Point - Gallagher
M. Tkachuk - Couturier - O'Reilly

Subban - Weber
Giordano - Letang
Vlasic - Burns
Letang

Price

 

[Gold Standard]

Marchessault is older than Seguin but he has a shot at the team and Seguin doesn’t? Stamkos is only 9 months older than Marchessault. Schwartz is just 5 months younger than Seguin. Seguin and Stamkos are on the brink. Marchessault and Schwartz are not.

I like your rosters but I think the wrong players are bolded when you talk about potential for Team Canada.

I wrote highlighting up and comers...probably some awkward English. could have worded it better perhaps. The players I highlighted have yet to play a game with the real Big Team. Benn, Seguin and Stamkos all have.

but if we were heading into Best on Best tournament this month, and with both Hall and McDavid recovering from injury and questionable, I'd probably put Stamkos and Seguin on the team over any of the others on that B Team.

 

[CanadienShark]

Marner - McDavid - McKinnon
Marchand -Crosby - Scheifele
Tavares - Point - Gallagher
M. Tkachuk - Couturier - O'Reilly

Subban - Weber
Giordano - Letang
Vlasic - Burns
Letang

Price

1. I love Gallagher, but no way he's near.
2. He's American.

 

[ottawa]

1. I love Gallagher, but no way he's near.
2. He's American.

Gallagher is an Edmonton boy

 

[CanadienShark]

Gallagher is an Edmonton boy

Tkachuk is American. The 2 referred to the second bolded name.

 

[ottawa]

Tkachuk is American. The 2 referred to the second bolded name.

Oh yeah, true. Maybe Max Domi then

(I kid)​

 

[CanadienShark]

Oh yeah, true. Maybe Max Domi then

(I kid)​

Almost got me there.

 

[Gold Standard]

It does happen sometimes. I think MacKinnon fits too. he was dominant that the 2017 tournament even though his 2017 season was quite mediocre. He's been at a much higher level ever since.

Your boy, Anthony, (DRW fan) had himself a game last night and is having a pretty scorching start to the season. making a case for elevation to the A Team. I'd like to see him sniping some shots on some sweet feeds from McDavid.

I hope he gets his contract sorted out soon. I'd like to see him give the WHC another run this year.

 

[Habs Icing]

Marner - McDavid - McKinnon
Marchand -Crosby - Scheifele
Tavares - Point - Gallagher
M. Tkachuk - Couturier - O'Reilly

Subban - Weber
Giordano - Letang
Vlasic - Burns
Letang

Price

Did he defect? He's a Yank.