WJC: 2021 Team USA Roster Talk

[Pavel Buchnevich]

come on now; Let's hope both teams play to their best and we have a gold medal showdown

I'd want Finland in the final anyway. I'm so tired of them beating us. Every year and every age group it seems to be the Finn's that knock us out.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Were Harris and Stubler cut earlier or ineligible?

Too old, cut.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I'd want Finland in the final anyway. I'm so tired of them beating us. Every year and every age group it seems to be the Finn's that knock us out.

You've been pretty naughty so not sure you'll get your wish this year

 

[stickty111]

It will sting losing a top line player in Robertson, but USA still has a good enough team to go far. Once you get to the knockout stage, anything can happen.

 

[FLYguy3911]

With the way Leaman talked up Sanderson he'll surely be in the top 4 if not co-1D.

Skinner and Kleven playing over Lacombe and Faber would be a mistake imo.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Can we stop with all the Robertson talk now? Let's focus on the players who chose to play and not those that didn't. I'm so tired of fans bickering and complaining about this stuff from all countries.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I find it pretty incredible how we've dominated this age group historically and have the most high profile players going into this tournament, but we've shifted from favorites to underdogs.

I don't mind it. Take the pressure off of us. Our depth has no doubt been hurt a little in the last few weeks, but I still think a team with Turcotte, Knight, Zegras, Caufield, Boldy, York, Thrun, Kaliyev, Sanderson, Beniers, Brisson, Brink, Wolf is more than good enough to win it. I'd still say this is our most talented team in years, even though we have many players missing.

How does the US have more high profile players?

I don’t think anyone is dismissing the US as a strong team that has a chance to win it, Canada is just a much deeper group overall.

The US will need to have a big advantage in goal to win, which could happen.

 

[ORRFForever]

Also, can we stop with the Covid conspiracies? USAH was running segmented rooming, eating, no social hangouts, etc. to avoid a positive test spreading. Doesn't mean it won't, but you all sound like the same broken clocks from over a week ago when you were declaring Caufield must be about to disqualified due to a positive case with the Wolverines.

Don't take it personally. We tore our own Hockey Canada apart after there were positives.

At the risk of stating the obvious, Canadians want this tournament to happen and we feel wounded / take it personally every time something goes wrong.

 

[Namikaze Minato]

Sucks they lose their likely best forward but at least Caufield can cover some of the same territory as Robertson.

I think Knight and Wolf will be crucial to the teams success moving forward.

 

[X66]

It'd be one thing if the NHL start date was confirmed. And yes, I'll laugh if they took away a guaranteed development opportunity for no hockey at all if NHL camps get delayed.

Robertson is a great prospect but he's not beyond the junior level being useful.

So his second tour for the WJC is more valuable experience for him then his second nhl training camp coming off of his playoff debut?

 

[William H Bonney]

This isn't a Team Canada thread. If you want to discuss them, go to their thread.

 

[stickty111]

Can we stop with all the Robertson talk now? Let's focus on the players who chose to play and not those that didn't. I'm so tired of fans bickering and complaining about this stuff from all countries.

Your right, but it was just because of that one troll who somehow thought he wasn't a lock to make the team.
Time to move on though. I like the offense and goalies, defence I'm weary of.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

How does the US have more high profile players?

I don’t think anyone is dismissing the US as a strong team that has a chance to win it, Canada is just a much deeper group overall.

The US will need to have a big advantage in goal to win, which could happen.

Canada has a huge question mark in net.

US has no question marks anywhere on the ice. Great top six, strong defense, elite goaltending, Maybe the coach and maybe the depth has been wiped away due to COVID and some bad personnel decisions. And as I said, USA has dominated this age group historically.

If you want to show that no respect and you believe another country is better because of reasons you've formulated, thats your choice. And it's not really important to discuss here. This American group should be worrying about themselves, not other teams. They need to play their game.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

It is pretty clear Robertson himself chose to stay. I'm sure the Leafs werent pushing him into the tournament obviously but I dont exactly think it is a coincidence that the only NHL player coming back is the only one that made it clear from day 1 that he wanted to go. Also the only one that hasnt done it before.

 

[William H Bonney]

So his second tour for the WJC is more valuable experience for him then his second nhl training camp coming off of his playoff debut?

You need to pay attention to the conditional conjunctions I used.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Canada has a huge question mark in net.

US has no question marks anywhere on the ice. Great top six, strong defense, elite goaltending, Maybe the coach and maybe the depth has been wiped away due to COVID and some bad personnel decisions. And as I said, USA has dominated this age group historically.

If you want to show that no respect and you believe another country is better because of reasons you've formulated, thats your choice. And it's not really important to discuss here. This American group should be worrying about themselves, not other teams. They need to play their game.

Agree about Canada’s question mark in goal. Apparently Levi was incredible in the final scrimmage game, but goaltending could be Canada’s weakness and has been in the past.

I would agree that the US doesn’t really have a weakness, they just don’t look like a powerhouse because their lack of depth doesn’t allow them to come at teams in waves. Their is a huge drop off between their top-6 and bottom-6. Their defence is good, but not spectacular.

 

[FLYguy3911]

If part of the reason for inviting Kleven was because he was playing games in the NCHC pod, Wyatt Kaiser should have been a late replacement add. He looks phenomenal as UMD's #1.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Agree about Canada’s question mark in goal. Apparently Levi was incredible in the final scrimmage game, but goaltending could be Canada’s weakness and has been in the past.

I would agree that the US doesn’t really have a weakness, they just don’t look like a powerhouse because their lack of depth doesn’t allow them to come at teams in waves. Their is a huge drop off between their top-6 and bottom-6.

I'm sorry, but I don't really buy any of that. This is about as deep of an American age group as I've ever seen. It's true that the NTDP guys got most of the discussion, but players like Kaliyev, Robertson, Brisson, Johnson, Brink, Lacombe, Struble were all high picks without being NTDP players and are good prospects.

In this tournament, 19 year olds like Brink and Brisson will probably be on the third line. Probably Lacombe and Johnson on the third/fourth pair. Wolf is a top five goalie in this tournament, and he probably doesn't even play more than a game all tournament. It would've been nice to have NHL guys (J. Hughes, Robertson), COVID guys (Commesso, Beecher, Bordeleau, Mastrosimone) who , and even players who were victims of poor personnel decisions (L. Hughes, Samoskevich, Fensore, Caulfield, Powell, Struble), but this team is a lot deeper than usual.

 

[X66]

You need to pay attention to the conditional conjunctions I used.

That’s out of everyone’s control though.

No one has hindsight for this stuff.

The number one priority will always be NHL club over WJ team.

 

[Minnesnota]

I'm going to amend this because I keep forgetting Ryan Johnson is on this team. I don't know why. He's a good player.

York-Thrun
Johnson-Helleson
Sanderson-Skinner
Kleven-Lacombe
Faber

I have it projected as:

Sanderson - Helleson
York - LaCombe
Johnson - Faber
Klevin - Skinner
Thrun

I suppose we'll see things work themselves out during pre-comp games starting the 20th? Either way - USA is very strong on defense. Going to be tough to play against. Physical, big, and tough to get shots through on. Mobile as well. Hard to find a weakness there.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I'm sorry, but I don't really buy any of that. This is about as deep of an American age group as I've ever seen. It's true that the NTDP guys got most of the discussion, but players like Kaliyev, Robertson, Brisson, Johnson, Brink, Lacombe, Struble were all high picks without being NTDP players and are good prospects.

In this tournament, 19 year olds like Brink and Brisson will probably be on the third line. Probably Lacombe and Johnson on the third/fourth pair. Wolf is a top five goalie in this tournament, and he probably doesn't even play more than a game all tournament. It would've been nice to have NHL guys (J. Hughes, Robertson), COVID guys (Commesso, Beecher, Bordeleau, Mastrosimone) who , and even players who were victims of poor personnel decisions (L. Hughes, Samoskevich, Fensore, Caulfield, Powell, Struble), but this team is a lot deeper than usual.

It is deeper than usual, because of the circumstances with the NHL. It’s just that everybody else is deeper too and Canada to a greater degree.

The U.S has a dangerous group of top-6 forwards though and the best goaltender in the tournament. They absolutely could advance deep and win. I just don’t agree with the assessment that they should be considered the favourite and have more high profile players.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Wow a lot of hate for Moynihan. Did he play poorly in camp? As a true freshman he has 13 goals in 34 games on the 2nd line, you would think he is trash.

 

[William H Bonney]

That’s out of everyone’s control though.

No one has hindsight for this stuff.

The number one priority will always be NHL club over WJ team.

It's not about hindsight, it's about foresight. The WJC right now is actually scheduled and happening. The NHL season, and its training camps, happening at the proposed time are tentative at best. Choosing to pass up a guaranteed development opportunity in hopes of attending something that may not even require missing the WJC is why it'd be funny if the NHL season/camps get pushed back. Of course, the NHL may actually resume here shortly and the Leafs / Robertson may be glad he skipped the WJC, but right now they're betting on the less likely developmental opportunity. If the NHL start was locked in, choosing the NHL team over the WJC is normal and understood, but if it was me, I'd rather align my 19-year-old prospect to the guaranteed opportunity to play high-level, high-intensity hockey right now, and that's the WJC.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I have it projected as:

Sanderson - Helleson
York - LaCombe
Johnson - Faber
Klevin - Skinner
Thrun

I suppose we'll see things work themselves out during pre-comp games starting the 20th? Either way - USA is very strong on defense. Going to be tough to play against. Physical, big, and tough to get shots through on. Mobile as well. Hard to find a weakness there.

I find it hard to believe York-Thrun won't play together. They are the two most experienced defenseman in this age group and have been playing together as a pair since the NTDP. I'd be very surprised if those weren't our top two guys in terms of their roles going into this tournament.

After that is where I think you start mixing and matching pairs. I like Johnson-Helleson as a purely shutdown pair behind those two. Everyone's going to want Sanderson to play a huge role, but 18 year old defensemen often struggle at this tournament. It'd be best to give him a smaller role to start out, and move him into a bigger role if he plays well.

I think we're only going to play three pairs regularly, so after York-Thrun I think they are battling for four/five spots. I think Sanderson, Helleson, and Johnson have the inside track to positions, and then likely Lacombe/Skinner should split 6/7D, depending on form. I'd prefer to use the righty Skinner at 6D to give ourselves two pairs that are L-R/L-R, but if the lefty outplays him, Skinner can be 7D.

I think Kleven and Faber are mostly there because of COVID protocols. They can practice with the team, provide some competition there, and maybe make the team next year. I don't think they deserve real roles on this team. They are 18 year old defensemen, and they aren't even high pick 18 year old defensemen like Sanderson. It seems unlikely they have much to add.

 

[bsu]

I have it projected as:

Sanderson - Helleson
York - LaCombe
Johnson - Faber
Klevin - Skinner
Thrun

I suppose we'll see things work themselves out during pre-comp games starting the 20th? Either way - USA is very strong on defense. Going to be tough to play against. Physical, big, and tough to get shots through on. Mobile as well. Hard to find a weakness there.

I am fairly certain with how they have spoke about him Thrun will be an everyday player.