WJC: 2024 Team USA Roster Talk

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Vegas with a bunch of underage kids seems like a disaster waiting to happen. I’m sure they’re thinking about the crowds but they gotta remember this is a tournament for teenagers first and foremost.

And while Minnesota initially seems like a slam dunk on paper, as the state borders Canada, it’s actually not near any of the big population areas in Canada that would make it easily accessible for Canadians. Thunder Bay would be a 3.5 hour drive from Duluth and Winnipeg a 6.5 hour drive and add another two hours to Minneapolis. And the lakes mean it’s a flight from Toronto.

If they are worried about Canadian attendance, I could definitely see Seattle.

Worried about Canadian attendance?

Canadian fans would make their way to Antarctica in droves to watch the WJC in person. If there's one thing I'll always concede to them, it's the rabid support they provide their team.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Vegas with a bunch of underage kids seems like a disaster waiting to happen. I’m sure they’re thinking about the crowds but they gotta remember this is a tournament for teenagers first and foremost.

And while Minnesota initially seems like a slam dunk on paper, as the state borders Canada, it’s actually not near any of the big population areas in Canada that would make it easily accessible for Canadians. Thunder Bay would be a 3.5 hour drive from Duluth and Winnipeg a 6.5 hour drive and add another two hours to Minneapolis. And the lakes mean it’s a flight from Toronto.

If they are worried about Canadian attendance, I could definitely see Seattle.

Makes just too much sense to keep the tournament close to Canada.

 

[mphmiles]

There's wrinkles to iron out like with any 17 you defenseman, but Buium is cold blooded with the puck on his stick. So impressed with his ability to absorb pressure and then make the right play.

 

[MNRube]

And while Minnesota initially seems like a slam dunk on paper, as the state borders Canada, it’s actually not near any of the big population areas in Canada that would make it easily accessible for Canadians.

Minnesota produces more NHLers than any province or state besides Ontario. It’s plenty close for Canadians and has an international airport for those who don’t want to drive. Seattle would just be catering to Canada which is lame

 

[MTU34]

Lots of line juggling in the third. Might just be a product of being up big but we’ll see if anything changes tomorrow

 

[mphmiles]

Feels weird to say after an 8 goal win, but this game didn't do a lot to give me confidence about this team winning gold.

-The power play is both scoring goals and also looking quite discombobulated. During the man advantage on Finley's goal, they went a minute and a half without really ever gaining the zone with possession. That can't happen against better teams.

-Defense has looked pretty leaky. Lots of rush chances for Switzerland that easily could have resulted in more goals against. We didn't dominate possession to the level I would have liked to see against a weaker team.

-On the bright side, the top 3 lines all looked pretty good and had their moments. Brindley has been excellent. Obviously the shots are going in, but he's consistently getting to dangerous areas.

-Buium belongs. Such a smooth skater. He completely lost a defender multiple times with the puck, weaving around the zone.

Maybe I'm just being a downer, but I think this team is going to have their hands full with the Slovaks in particular.

 

[TLEH]

Feels weird to say after an 8 goal win, but this game didn't do a lot to give me confidence about this team winning gold.

-The power play is both scoring goals and also looking quite discombobulated. During the man advantage on Finley's goal, they went a minute and a half without really ever gaining the zone with possession. That can't happen against better teams.

-Defense has looked pretty leaky. Lots of rush chances for Switzerland that easily could have resulted in more goals against. We didn't dominate possession to the level I would have liked to see against a weaker team.

-On the bright side, the top 3 lines all looked pretty good and had their moments. Brindley has been excellent. Obviously the shots are going in, but he's consistently getting to dangerous areas.

-Buium belongs. Such a smooth skater. He completely lost a defender multiple times with the puck, weaving around the zone.

Maybe I'm just being a downer, but I think this team is going to have their hands full with the Slovaks in particular.

You are.

 

[William H Bonney]

Much better effort today, even if the performance was still sloppier than you'd like. With junior players, you're almost always going to have the latter to an extent but there's no excuse for not showing up in the effort department, so I was happy to see them respond in that regard today.

It was a game that should inject a lot of offensive confidence, which is always nice. Brindley was excellent again, as was Nazar. McGroarty looked more comfortable, which isn't surprising as he works his way back into shape post-injury.

Buium and Chesley were much better today. I won't be surprised to see Pohlkamp take someone's spot in the top 6 eventually. Fortescue was lost today.

Hutson has been the worst player on the team in both games. On one hand, it's not a good sign for your team when a guy who should be one of the best players in the tournament has been one of the worst. On the other hand, he can't get much worse, so you'd have to think he'll get better, which will be a huge boost to the team.

The biggest concern is the defense. Too often guys are losing their man and/or structure, even when it's not borne out of being under much pressure. Hutson playing so poorly is a huge contributor but I'd like to see them experiment with some new pairings to see if it helps.

They'll need to be better when the games matter, of course, but today was an improvement, and in a tournament like this, you're building to a crescendo you hope to hit in the medal rounds.

 

[TLEH]

I thought Rinzel had a bit of an adventure today in his own zone too. Hutson has been a mess defensively.

 

[Joe Zanussi]

You guys know more than I do. Are they coached to ”coast” (and stay on top of the offensive players) in order to get out of the zone quickly when we get the puck in our zone? Is this a conscious decision? Would the coaches prefer we get more guys back in a more defensive position? Or are we willing to give up chances in order to generate our own chances?

 

[William H Bonney]

Feels weird to say after an 8 goal win, but this game didn't do a lot to give me confidence about this team winning gold.

-The power play is both scoring goals and also looking quite discombobulated. During the man advantage on Finley's goal, they went a minute and a half without really ever gaining the zone with possession. That can't happen against better teams.

-Defense has looked pretty leaky. Lots of rush chances for Switzerland that easily could have resulted in more goals against. We didn't dominate possession to the level I would have liked to see against a weaker team.

-On the bright side, the top 3 lines all looked pretty good and had their moments. Brindley has been excellent. Obviously the shots are going in, but he's consistently getting to dangerous areas.

-Buium belongs. Such a smooth skater. He completely lost a defender multiple times with the puck, weaving around the zone.

Maybe I'm just being a downer, but I think this team is going to have their hands full with the Slovaks in particular.

While I agree the PP isn't firing on all cylinders, I wouldn't point to how the PP looked when they were up 9-2 in the 3rd period and no longer playing their regular units as evidence. That said, there needs to be improved cohesion and crispness on the PP without a doubt.

The team needs to continue to improve and Slovakia is a worthy opponent that cannot be taken lightly, especially with Gajan in the net, but it's interesting to be so down after the team largely outplayed and blew out the Swiss while also fearing the Slovaks, who were just outplayed by the Swiss even if they won the tight game. Don't get me wrong, I think the Slovaks are better and more dangerous than the Swiss, but they've been just as uneven as Team USA to start.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

You guys know more than I do. Are they coached to ”coast” (and stay on top of the offensive players) in order to get out of the zone quickly when we get the puck in our zone? Is this a conscious decision? Would the coaches prefer we get more guys back in a more defensive position? Or are we willing to give up chances in order to generate our own chances?

The system is definitely leaning in to a risk vs reward strategy over being conservative defensively. The talent is there to support that, especially against todays opponent. Having said that, several of the mishaps today were not things that any coach would approve of and more a failure to read and pick up assignments.

I assume the strategy will be a bit different as we go along and gaps will expected to be tighter.

 

[Souker]

People freaking out about Hutson make me laugh lol I’ve been watching the WJC for over 2 decades now and it’s always the same thing.
People think performance here translate into the NHL. Some NHL stars today had very poor WJC and some “future stars” based on WJC turned out to be busts. Everyone calm down lol

Also I’d add that it became meaningless blowout game. Accumulated free points don’t mean anything & everyone took their foot off the gas defensively. Just human nature.
I wanna see what he does in competitive games vs the stronger competition and so far he’s 1/1 (vs Canada). No one cares about performances in blowout games vs clearly weaker competition in a JUNIOR tournament.

 

[TLEH]

People freaking out about Hutson make me laugh lol I’ve been watching the WJC for over 2 decades now and it’s always the same thing.
People think performance here translate into the NHL. Some NHL stars today had very poor WJC and some “future stars” based on WJC turned out to be busts. Everyone calm down lol

Also I’d add that it became meaningless blowout game. Accumulated free points don’t mean anything & everyone took their foot off the gas defensively. Just human nature.
I wanna see what he does in competitive games vs the stronger competition and so far he’s 1/1 (vs Canada). No one cares about performances in blowout games vs clearly weaker competition in a JUNIOR tournament.

I don't see anyone commenting about his point production. Only that he had two bad games defensively.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

People freaking out about Hutson make me laugh lol I’ve been watching the WJC for over 2 decades now and it’s always the same thing.
People think performance here translate into the NHL. Some NHL stars today had very poor WJC and some “future stars” based on WJC turned out to be busts. Everyone calm down lol

Also I’d add that it became meaningless blowout game. Accumulated free points don’t mean anything & everyone took their foot off the gas defensively. Just human nature.
I wanna see what he does in competitive games vs the stronger competition and so far he’s 1/1 (vs Canada). No one cares about performances in blowout games vs clearly weaker competition in a JUNIOR tournament.

I mean if he was free wheeling and stunting all over the tournament these games would all of a sudden matter. You are correct that how a player performs in a 2 week tournament isn't going to determine their future as a pro....but people are here discussing this tournament so if a player isn't performing to expectations it is going to be discussed. Shocking really.

 

[Joe Zanussi]

I mean if he was free wheeling and stunting all over the tournament these games would all of a sudden matter. You are correct that how a player performs in a 2 week tournament isn't going to determine their future as a pro....but people are here discussing this tournament so if a player isn't performing to expectations it is going to be discussed. Shocking really.

Agree. I haven’t heard people saying this impacts his nhl future. Only concerned about the next 7 days

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Snooze fest. No one got injured. Move onto the next game.

I’d normally say this type of game is why we could do with reducing the teams in this tournament, but Switzerland is supposed to be a team that doesn’t challenge for relegation. This Swiss team was pathetic.

 

[Statsy]

Snooze fest. No one got injured. Move onto the next game.

I’d normally say this type of game is why we could do with reducing the teams in this tournament, but Switzerland is supposed to be a team that doesn’t challenge for relegation. This Swiss team was pathetic.

To be fair, they did play much better yesterday, but the back-to-backs are tough, especially when you take on an American juggernaut in the second game.

This definitely isn't their best WJC entry though.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Snooze fest. No one got injured. Move onto the next game.

I’d normally say this type of game is why we could do with reducing the teams in this tournament, but Switzerland is supposed to be a team that doesn’t challenge for relegation. This Swiss team was pathetic.

It should only be a 6 team tournament with a full round robin and then semis, finals, 7 games total which is same as now. Other two teams play 2, 1 or 0 games for relegation with points from the round robin carrying over and ending when sixth place could no longer mathematically catching fifth place. One team comes up from the lower division of teams currently 7-12 which would be like Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany, Belarus, Norway, Austria (or whatever other team) and make for a better competition with both levels. They just are too scared of someone getting relegated that they wouldn’t want relegated.

Right now the group games are painfully low stakes. Beat some crappy team and secure your spot in the quarters and in next year’s event and then I guess jockey for positioning which doesn’t matter that much (if it all).

 

[puck swami]

The US is growing day by day. Poor start in game one, but today a couple of goals in the first 3:30 set the tone for the day. Sure, there were some poor defensive plays but in teenage hockey in a lopsided game, they happen. What I am seeing is strong transition hockey, relentless possession attack mode, good retrievals and reloads and team speed from Carle (this is how his Denver teams play. His guys make great great bumps off the first pass to advance the transition, and these guys make time and space for themselves, getting scoring from all four lines with a defense that's mobile and always in puck support mode.

I think you will see more attention to the defensive layers as the competition gets tougher.

 

[Statsy]

Right now the group games are painfully low stakes. Beat some crappy team and secure your spot in the quarters and in next year’s event and then I guess jockey for positioning which doesn’t matter that much (if it all).

Position doesn't matter that much? Ask Finland if they're happy with the position they're in. They're on a collision course with the US and an early exit from the tournament.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Position doesn't matter that much? Ask Finland if they're happy with the position they're in. They're on a collision course with the US and an early exit from the tournament.

You play who you play and can’t control what goes on in the other group. Flip it on its head, USA could go undefeated and be rewarded for it with the Finns in the quarters which isn’t an ideal matchup and if they win that, it’s possible the loser of Canada-Sweden is the less ideal team to play. Ultimately you gotta beat everyone directly or indirectly so it’s pretty low stakes what position you come in.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

There are some defensive warts to be sure, but this is an incredibly skilled team. The passing/shooting today was top notch.

 

[SI90]

Just keep outscoring everyone. Defensively there is a bit of concern but this offense is insane. This is the fastest and most skilled US team I can remember. The big guns up front are really getting it done. I don’t see these boys slowing down. Having these guys with NCAA experience and success is huge.

 

[ORRFForever]

You play who you play and can’t control what goes on in the other group. Flip it on its head, USA could go undefeated and be rewarded for it with the Finns in the quarters which isn’t an ideal matchup and if they win that, it’s possible the loser of Canada-Sweden is the less ideal team to play. Ultimately you gotta beat everyone directly or indirectly so it’s pretty low stakes what position you come in.

I agree. Assuming you have to meet / beat everyone is the best approach. Having said that, it's nice when you get an easy path.

My guess : Canada, the U.S. and Sweden will be the top 3 going into the semis - no particular order. The number 4 team will be Slovakia so... pick your poison.