WJC: 2021 Team USA Roster Talk

[SanDogBrewin]

I didn't cherry pick. I just went to the last draft and counted the number of players. I figured the last draft was the most relevant. I had no idea how many players were drafted in previous years although I was pretty sure more came out of the CHL than went the NCAA route.

You just explained “cherry picking”. This is a thread about this the US team in the 2021 WJC. There must be a dozen threads about CHL vs NCAA on the prospects page.

 

[cleveland408]

Umm.. In the last NHL draft, in the first round 19 out 31 players were drafted out of the three Canadian Major Junior hockey leagues. Three out of 31 are US college players. Its not close.
The NCAA is great if you're not a top tier hockey player and you need more time to grow and develop.

I guess Toews, Makar, and Eichel aren't top tier players.

 

[cleveland408]

Is anyone else worried about what they've seen of Kaliyev so far? It almost seems like he struggles to get open for a quality shooting chance against teams that aren't Austria or Czech Republic.

 

[bsu]

Is anyone else worried about what they've seen of Kaliyev so far? It almost seems like he struggles to get open for a quality shooting chance against teams that aren't Austria or Czech Republic.

Yes almost everyone wants him off the top line.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

 

[William H Bonney]

Strong performance by the team. A couple of early breaks helped, but they carried most of the game too.

Faber was excellent again. He's been our best defenseman all tournament. Physical, elusive with the puck, and great on the breakout.

Johnson has had a very up-and-down tournament, but that was his best game. He looked a lot more confident and let his skating carry him.

Helleson's best game as well. He's pretty raw as a prospect, but he was good in all facets of the game tonight. One of the better performances I've seen from him in the last 3+ years.

Zegras was himself once again. 22 points in 9 WJC games. Makes it look easy.

Great to see Turcotte bury one. Overall, he's been good, but finally getting a goal should lift his confidence a bit, which can be deadly with his work ethic.

Knight was pretty good. He had a couple of shaky moments, but for the most part, was very calm and making the saves look easy, which they mostly were.

Someone needs to tell Cole Caufield to stop overhandling the puck. He's not Patrick Kane.

Kaliyev took that sloppy penalty, but I thought his effort tonight was a lot better. He was winning a lot of board battles and protecting the puck well.

Slaggert needs to be a lot better. Our 4th line center should not be going 0 for 7 on face-offs.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I thought we played about as well as you can play without the other team giving up a free win. Sweden really wasn't that bad. Their goalie was a little weak on some of those goals, but that was a good close game where I thought we won puck battles, and generated better chances. Sweden's a good team, and to beat them 4-0 shows how well we played.

Knight was excellent. He looks back in form. Hopefully he can continue this on to the knockout rounds because he's good enough to steal a game for us if it's needed at some point.I thought our defense was mostly very solid. One thing I like this year is that we have a lot of good defensemen. I don't know if any of them are great, but I feel like we have good depth among our defense, and almost all of them can play all the important parts of the game. I still don't trust Lacombe to take shifts. He's unreliable. I think Skinner's been given a raw deal by this coaching staff, and should have been in the lineup by now. Zegras continued his great play offensively. I'm a little worried about our depth forwards. I thought the grinders were quite weak in this game. Beniers had a big game on the defensive end. Turcotte had another very solid game. Good to see him get some recognition with the Player of the Game.

It seems as if we'll be playing Slovakia. There's no reason that this shouldn't be an easy game, if we play up to our capabilities. Play down to their level and their goaltender has a great game, and it could be close, so don't let them in the game. Close it out early.

 

[Mattb124]

Is anyone else worried about what they've seen of Kaliyev so far? It almost seems like he struggles to get open for a quality shooting chance against teams that aren't Austria or Czech Republic.

Came here to ask this same question. I could see him busting for sure, just too monofaceted at this point for the NHL.

Watching the game tonight, I remember the commentators calling his name 4 times: 1) saying he was a no show and needed to do more, 2) shortly thereafter took a weakish tripping penalty, and 3/4) he had two hard but fruitless shots on goal. Other than that, total non-factor.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Is anyone else worried about what they've seen of Kaliyev so far? It almost seems like he struggles to get open for a quality shooting chance against teams that aren't Austria or Czech Republic.

I'll pose another question. What's the solution if we demote Kaliyev? I'm open to suggestions because I think you pose a valid question. But I'm not sure there's a good solution with this team at this moment, so hope he can be carried by two of our best players at ES, and he can contribute some important offensive contributions when the games get closer and a great offensive play can be the difference in a game.

 

[kilowatt]

I'll pose another question. What's the solution if we demote Kaliyev? I'm open to suggestions because I think you pose a valid question. But I'm not sure there's a good solution with this team at this moment, so hope he can be carried by two of our best players at ES, and he can contribute some important offensive contributions when the games get closer and a great offensive play can be the difference in a game.

Turcotte and Zegras are producing enough to shelter Kaliyev, and the best case scenario is that he wakes up and becomes a force. He just looks lethargic. If they had demoted him a couple games ago I would have agreed, but at this point pretty much everyone except Kaliyev and Caufield are clicking, so don't mess with it anymore. I guess you could just swap Kaliyev and Caufield, but Caufield has just turned over the puck nonstop. Kaliyev is just kind of there.

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

I've been watching this tournament for 15+ years and I can say with complete confidence that Cole Caufield is the WORST and most ineffective player I have EVER seen for any team in this competition. I'm not kidding, I would take a healthy scratch from team Austria over this guy, he is just absolutely useless.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Turcotte and Zegras are producing enough to shelter Kaliyev, and the best case scenario is that he wakes up and becomes a force. He just looks lethargic. If they had demoted him a couple games ago I would have agreed, but at this point pretty much everyone except Kaliyev and Caufield are clicking, so don't mess with it anymore. I guess you could just swap Kaliyev and Caufield, but Caufield has just turned over the puck nonstop. Kaliyev is just kind of there.

Bingo. I think the only real change could be swapping those two to change it up for both of them. I don’t see enough from any other winger to justify changing the construction of the top six.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I've been watching this tournament for 15+ years and I can say with complete confidence that Cole Caufield is the WORST and most ineffective player I have EVER seen for any team in this competition. I'm not kidding, I would take a healthy scratch from team Austria over this guy, he is just absolutely useless.

You are definitely not overreacting.

 

[William H Bonney]

I've been watching this tournament for 15+ years and I can say with complete confidence that Cole Caufield is the WORST and most ineffective player I have EVER seen for any team in this competition. I'm not kidding, I would take a healthy scratch from team Austria over this guy, he is just absolutely useless.

Caufield hasn't been good but this is one of the most hyperbolic posts I've seen in following this tournament for 15+ years.

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

Caufield hasn't been good but this is one of the most hyperbolic posts I've seen in following this tournament for 15+ years.

There's being a non-factor then there's being a complete detriment to a team, which is what Caufield is. He's 5 foot nothing and thinks he can protect the puck like Jaromir Jagr or Eric Lindros. He has no hands whatsoever and thinks he can dangle through 3 opposing players like Pavel Datsyuk or Patrick Kane. The only time you notice him on the ice is when he's making a horrendous turnover or getting run over by someone on the other team.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I've been watching this tournament for 15+ years and I can say with complete confidence that Cole Caufield is the WORST and most ineffective player I have EVER seen for any team in this competition. I'm not kidding, I would take a healthy scratch from team Austria over this guy, he is just absolutely useless.

If your first sentence was true it wouldn’t be so false.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

I'll pose another question. What's the solution if we demote Kaliyev? I'm open to suggestions because I think you pose a valid question. But I'm not sure there's a good solution with this team at this moment, so hope he can be carried by two of our best players at ES, and he can contribute some important offensive contributions when the games get closer and a great offensive play can be the difference in a game.

He should be demoted for someone that doesnt skate in mud. I would literally put any other forward in his spot

 

[Truckfighter]

Kaliyev has not impressed so far. And I'm saying that as a big fan of his. But that being said, I can not for the life of me, figure out why they have him playing on his strong side on the PP. What a waste of his best asset, his one timer.

 

[The Sweetness]

So if the USA wins do they face Canada in the semis?

That’s what iihf.com is showing but that makes no sense to me given both teams are the #1 seed.

 

[William H Bonney]

So if the USA wins do they face Canada in the semis?

That’s what iihf.com is showing but that makes no sense to me given both teams are the #1 seed.

No. They re-seed for the semis, so USA/Canada should only meet for a medal if they advance that far.

 

[The Sweetness]

No. They re-seed for the semis, so USA/Canada should only meet for a medal if they advance that far.

Nice, thanks

 

[Ginger Papa]

Hi folks,

Interesting discussion regarding Cole and Arthur. It’s nice to read most of the supportive posts in trying to figure out how to deploy them for success rather than just consider them ‘busts’.

There’s certainly been more than enough of that kind of talk by a few in the Canadian Thread regarding Quinton until the last 2 games.

I might be looking at this too simply, but I see the situation with these 2 fellows the same way as with Byfield. They’re used to being successful and playing with confidence.

When that wavers, they hesitate, rush themselves or try too hard instead of playing their game.

I don’t see either of them playing with the confidence that they had in the preliminary match at all. I hope they can get it back soon, as it has to be frustrating.

Just my 2 cents.

Congratulations on the dominant win tonight and breaking the Regulation win streak.

 

[King'sPawn]

If Kaliyev is not playing on the right side on the top line, he should be moved to a line where he can fit that role. Same thing for the powerplay.

 

[SK94]

There was still way too many times when opponent got easy possession because our D hold the puck way too long. Swedes was not that good today and going forward they need to clean it up.

 

[Joe Zanussi]

Wow. They are a completely different team that the one who opened this tourney. I was very wrong about the d. The passes last night were crisp and careful. Breakouts looked easy. Really impressive show.

I think the first goal should always be to play a game for a medal. No reason not to achieve that now. Really good stuff.