WJC: 2021 Team USA Roster Talk

[William H Bonney]

I think you have to be pretty happy with the game for the most part.

• The team has hardly played this year (if at all) and the players showed up to play. That's about a best-case scenario given the circumstances.
• Zegras, Turcotte, Caufield, Boldy, and Beniers were all buzzing and York looks poised for 27+ a night.
• The PP was moving the puck pretty well, which is such a huge key to being successful at this tournament.
• Finland didn't create anything offensively outside of their PP.
• Johnson and Sanderson both looked strong. There's an opportunity for a couple of guys to cement their top 4 statuses, so it was good to see them play well.
• With COVID testing protocols hurting our forward depth quite a bit, we needed a couple of guys who probably wouldn't have been on the team to step up. Berard, for example, was excellent tonight.
• The game score was tight, even if the run of play and shots weren't, so the team got to practice holding a lead, etc. I'd much prefer that to a comfortable win in an exhibition.

I'd highlight the following as areas to watch:

• Knight wasn't good. The first goal against was trash and he was barely tested after that. Knight is very much a rhythm goalie, so I'm sure he'll be fine (he struggled in the first NCAA game this year too, and has been lights out since).
• PK wasn't good, so hopefully, that's an area of focus in practice.
• Helleson seemingly played a lot, but I thought he struggled.
• Losing 2 of our centers (not counting Hughes) really hurt our depth down the middle. It seemed like Boldy and Beniers were playing a lot together with Caufield as the game progressed, too. The good news is we have the horses, I just hope the coaching staff is willing to ride them. If Turcotte and Beniers / Boldy are your top 6 centers, I'd be double shifting 1 of those 3 (or Zegras) as the 3rd line center fairly frequently as the tournament progresses.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

One more thing, it always is good to beat Finland. They’ve inflicted us with many key losses over the years.

 

[EXTRAS]

How did slaggert look?

 

[William H Bonney]

I'm still wary of Leaman given the style he coaches in college, but this made me happy:



It's been so frustrating over the years watching Team USA coach after coach stubbornly cling to the same lines the entire tournament until the dying minutes of the game they're eliminated in before making a change.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

How did slaggert look?

He committed a penalty. Not much else. It’ll be a small role for him.

 

[William H Bonney]

How did slaggert look?

He took an unlucky penalty, but unsurprisingly he was using his speed to pester Finland all night. His line didn't create much offensively, but they were giving Finland fits defensively and on the forecheck.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Not sure what more you could want from the US forward group - given the circumstances. The top-six looks incredibly dangerous. Sure, they'd look a lot better with a third line of Hughes, Robertson and Bordeleau ahead of Beecher and Mastrimone as two-thirds of your fourth line - but those five are simply not available and it has nothing to do with roster construction. The US will have to make the best of their bottom-seven and I thought the group skated well tonight...

All seven have enough offense to contribute to overall depth scoring and almost all of them can skate without any liability - freeing up the top two lines and the PP's to do much of the heavy lifting. So be it, its the cards they were dealt.

The US easily outpaced Finland 5x5 and outshot them 45-16 on the night, despite looking like a group still finding their game legs and their team chemistry. When passes find tape instead of jumping sticks, this should be an extremely high-skill, hard-skating group and a fun team to watch.

I think an 'in-sync' US power-play pots at least another, maybe two.

Clean up the PK, eliminate some turnovers and soft, early goals and this team has a chance, which is all you can ask...

The top 6 look great nobody is disputing that, but the bottom 6 look like the usual team USA grinders and it's going to be hard to win this tournament without some depth scoring

 

[NewHampshire]

The top 6 look great nobody is disputing that, but the bottom 6 look like the usual team USA grinders and it's going to be hard to win this tournament without some depth scoring

Farinacci, Brink and Moynihan scored 10, 11 and 13 goals, respectively, as NCAA true freshman in 2019-20. Brisson is a gifted scorer averaging nearly a PPG at Michigan and was a first-round NHL draft pick two months ago. Colangelo approached 30 goals last season in the USHL before being selected #36 overall. Berard has a high-energy offensive game and created a number of chances tonight.

Slaggert is the only one who fits your description, but he slots very well on a high-energy, match-up line alongside Farinacci and Moynihan - a trio more than capable of chipping in enough to contribute. If Brisson/Brink/Colangelo/Berard get some run with one of Team USA's top-three center options (as Bonney outlined above) than they'll certainly provide the team with some depth scoring.

Any team in the tournament is going to see its top-six carry the bulk of the scoring load. While not at full strength, this is a group of 'also ran' Team USA's forwards that still bring plenty to the table in both checking and depth scoring roles. They CAN play a grinding role, but they're not simply grinders by any means...

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Sanderson will be USA's number 1 defender by 2nd-3rd game of the tourney. That composure, skating, and 2 way play is clutch.

 

[SK94]

This has to be one of the only USA teams at the World Juniors that are mostly Americans...Turcotte traces lineage to Quebec,Canada,Brisson to Quebec,Canada,Sanderson to Canada and Kaliyev to Russia. The rest are bonafide Americans

Everyone traces back to somewhere if you want to play that game...

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Everyone traces back to somewhere if you want to play that game...

What I'm saying is that their Father's were Canadians. Or in the case of Turcotte,GrandFather's,Papa Alfie was Canadian-American. Was Mark Howe American or Canadian and Brett Hull? It says Howe was born in Michigan that doesn't mean he was American...His father was the Legendary Gordie from Floral,Saskatchewan and Mark was trained in Canada.Team USA has benefited from having players who's father's were NHLer's and Canadian that's all I was saying

 

[FLYguy3911]

I’ve long been a Brett Berard stan but I thought he flashed a good bit. Never a good sign when you are the first one asked to serve someone else’s minor, but he could be a good Swiss Army knife-like option in the bottom six if needed.

You attempted a victory lap, in my opinion.

What does this bring to the USA roster thread exactly?

 

[mphmiles]

Some were unimpressed with Turcotte last night, but in terms of entries and exits, Turcotte was by far the US’ most effective player by attempts and success rate.

Hugely important area that he excels in.

 

[Kalv]

Turcotte and Byfield gets some unnecessary bashing before any meaningful games, but as a Ducks fan I don't want to step in

Turcotte will be fine, he does a lot of the dirty work so sometimes go unnoticed.
Was there some game sheet or something like that to see how many minutes each played and perhaps other stats? Maybe the game is available somewhere?

 

[clevelandcane]

Good game all around. I thought the Turcotte/Zegras/Kaliyev line and the Beniers/Boldy/Caufield lines played really well. And on D, Sanderson really was our best defenseman.

 

[AvsCOL]

Zegras had some unreal passes last night. That spinorama pass to the trailing man reminded me a ton of Patrick Kane. Kid is gonna be a good one.

 

[Leviathan899]

How did slaggert look?

Liked his game in a checking/energy line role and he’s a guy Leaman will use after goals or on the PK as he can really skate and play fast, hard on the puck too. Won’t create a lot offensively here but I think he’ll get a decent amount of ice along with Farinacci and Moynihan

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

This has to be one of the only USA teams at the World Juniors that are mostly Americans...Turcotte traces lineage to Quebec,Canada,Brisson to Quebec,Canada,Sanderson to Canada and Kaliyev to Russia. The rest are bonafide Americans

Kaliyev was born in Uzbekistan but moved to Staten Island when he was two.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I posted this in GDT thread:

I actually like the flash that Zegras plays with. Keeps the opposition on their toes and results in a lot of prime scoring chances. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but the threat of him making a play like that creates a lot of space, which he used to take a lot of high quality shots last night.

What I don't love is his low angle one timers on the PP.

On the whole, I liked what I saw last night, though not too keen on the way our goalies played. Nothing concerning but knight should have saved at least one of those goals and Wolf's puck handling made me nervous.

 

[snipes]

Good game all around. I thought the Turcotte/Zegras/Kaliyev line and the Beniers/Boldy/Caufield lines played really well. And on D, Sanderson really was our best defenseman.

My thoughts as well, re-echoing my comment on Beniers last night — what a player he is. I’ll be following him closely this year leading up to the draft.

He was so impressive last night, I thought Turcotte was strong on the puck and forecheck as well. Almost buried that breakaway that went off the post.

Zegras is a wizard with the puck, his anticipation, offensive vision, and passing are all elite. Bit of a muffin shot right now, but if he figures that out he’ll put up big numbers in the NHL. He’ll be in the NHL likely this season.

 

[Statsy]

I posted this in GDT thread:

I actually like the flash that Zegras plays with. Keeps the opposition on their toes and results in a lot of prime scoring chances. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but the threat of him making a play like that creates a lot of space, which he used to take a lot of high quality shots last night.

What I don't love is his low angle one timers on the PP.

On the whole, I liked what I saw last night, though not too keen on the way our goalies played. Nothing concerning but knight should have saved at least one of those goals and Wolf's puck handling made me nervous.

Definitely thought Wolf’s puck handling was suspect. It’s like he sees Knight do it and feels his only chance to be the starter is to match him in that area. It’s a talent though and you can’t just pull it out of your back pocket. Harmed his chances more than helped them.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Sanderson will be USA's number 1 defender by 2nd-3rd game of the tourney. That composure, skating, and 2 way play is clutch.

Don’t get me wrong, Sanderson had a good game against Finland, but I think you aren’t taking into account how effective York-Thrun were. You are thinking of it as a fan of the team that drafted Sanderson not a fan of the team he’s playing for in this tournament. If he leapfrogs them, he’ll probably win best defender of the tournament. I highly doubt he’ll do so. Those guys are a year older and really good.

 

[Random Comment]

Don’t get me wrong, Sanderson had a good game against Finland, but I think you aren’t taking into account how effective York-Thrun were. You are thinking of it as a fan of the team that drafted Sanderson not a fan of the team he’s playing for in this tournament. If he leapfrogs them, he’ll probably win best defender of the tournament. I highly doubt he’ll do so. Those guys are a year older and really good.

Sanderson is and will be a far better defenceman than those two. And that’s not against York. He’s good too. Just nowhere near Sanderson level on either Defence or Offence.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Sanderson is and will be a far better defenceman than those two. And that’s not against York. He’s good too. Just nowhere near Sanderson level on either Defence or Offence.

But this isn’t about careers, it’s about this tournament. If Sanderson leapfrogs them that means he’s playing incredible hockey because those are going to be two of the best defensemen at that tournament. Fans often underrate the impact of 18 year olds vs. 19 year olds in this tournament. Unless the older guys aren’t good, they are probably going to play a bigger role than the younger guys. I highly doubt he leapfrogs York. Thrun might be a little more of a realistic target, but even that I doubt. Next year he’ll most likely be the 1D.

 

[bsu]

Thrun is most underrated player on entire team imo.