WJC: 2025 Team USA Roster Talk

[Deep Blue Metallic]

That’s how I see it too. I think he is trying too hard to play a shutdown role and that’s just not who he is.

plus, you know a player is legit when his NCAA defending champs team loses without him to a UNLV club team.

Saw the "highlight" video. Probably the worst goaltending performance I've ever seen at such a high level.

Whatever we think of Buium's play, one would hope Carle is the guy who can fully exploit his talent.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Pretty tricky trying to find another center other than Hagens to produce. Oliver Moore is a bottom 6 buzzsaw type of center. He's not creative at all, but can really fly. The expectations for him are the same as a lot of scouts saw him in his draft year.

Nelson isn't much better of an option, but he has size. Hopefully they can get more than the Hagens line going. They'll probably need to mix up the winger pairs

I think you just have to suck it up and put Moore with Leonard and Perreault. They don't need a highly-skilled centerman to succeed, they just need a guy who can crash and bang, forecheck, put pressure on the D, and force turnovers. Moore is that guy.

I'd put Hagens with Stiga and Eiserman.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I think you just have to suck it up and put Moore with Leonard and Perreault.

They don't need a highly-skilled centerman to succeed, they just need a guy who can crash and bang, forecheck, put pressure on the D, and force turnovers. Moore is that guy.

I think Nelson's finishing would make him a better fit there.

I'd put Hagens with Stiga and Eiserman.

Or you could try Hagens with Stiga and Ziemer, they were dynamite at the U18s

Perreault - Nelson - Leonard
Stiga - Hagens - Ziemer
Plante - Moore - Eiserman
Connolly - Terrance - Svoboda
Willis

I feel like that creates some really tough matchup choices for Canada.

I also really liked the Stiga - Moore - Ziemer line vs Finland, maybe it makes sense to try to keep them together, and just swap Leonard and Eiserman?

Perreault - Hagens - Eiserman
Stiga - Moore - Ziemer
Connolly - Nelson - Leonard
Plante - Terrance - Svoboda
Willis

 

[Juxtaposer]

I think Nelson's finishing would make him a better fit there.


Or you could try Hagens with Stiga and Ziemer, they were dynamite at the U18s

Perreault - Nelson - Leonard
Stiga - Hagens - Ziemer
Plante - Moore - Eiserman
Connolly - Terrance - Svoboda
Willis

I feel like that creates some really tough matchup choices for Canada.

I also really liked the Stiga - Moore - Ziemer line vs Finland, maybe it makes sense to try to keep them together, and just swap Leonard and Eiserman?

Perreault - Hagens - Eiserman
Stiga - Moore - Ziemer
Connolly - Nelson - Leonard
Plante - Terrance - Svoboda
Willis

Any of those options is fine with me. But you can't have Leonard/Hagens/Perreault together. Other than keeping the 4th line as is, I would be open to any other configuration, especially ones that split Connolly and Eiserman too.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Any of those options is fine with me. But you can't have Leonard/Hagens/Perreault together. Other than keeping the 4th line as is, I would be open to any other configuration, especially ones that split Connolly and Eiserman too.

Agreed on both fronts. Connolly and Eiserman are too reckless to play together. And pooling so much talent onto the top line really hurts our depth, which showed vs Finland. If we keep those 3 together and they don't produce, we'll be in trouble unless Augustine finds his game again. Our D core is really really weak defensively this year.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

They arent changing up the top line lol. With any puck luck that line has 2-3 more goals last game.

 

[TakeTheBody]

I'm so glad this game is back to NY's Eve. I'm older, stay in now and this is the perfect way to bring in the New Year with a USA victory. Especially in Canada. USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!

 

[Wieters]

My vote would be to put Nelson between Perreault/Leonard. Those two don't need much playmaking from their center to produce, so stick the center with the least creativity but most grind there.

Stiga/Hagens/Ziemer has proof of concept from the NTDP, and we're approaching the stage where you don't want to be experimenting more than necessary anymore, so take what you know you have with that line.

That leaves Moore centering the third line with Eiserman and one of Connelly/Plante. I think you go Connelly there for the upside but have a quick hook with him if he isn't dialed in.

Carle has run out the same fourth line in all three games now, which is fine.

Plante as the extra to take Connolly's place if things go wrong with him.

Perreault/Nelson/Leonard
Stiga/Hagens/Ziemer
Connelly/Moore/Eiserman
Burnevik/Terrance/Svoboda
Plante

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I'm starting to get a not so great feeling about our chances. I feel like we've played worse as the tournament has gone on, very loose defensively.

Canada hasn't created much, but they also haven't allowed much. This should be a tighter game which is in their favor. I think we're gonna need 5 goals to beat them unless something changes.

A loss of any kind vs Canada + a Finland win puts us 3rd, with a QF matchup against the loser of the Czechia Sweden game.

Starting to feel like one of those WJCs where we only play 5 games...

 

[TheBeastCoast]

I'm starting to get a not so great feeling about our chances. I feel like we've played worse as the tournament has gone on, very loose defensively.

Canada hasn't created much, but they also haven't allowed much. This should be a tighter game which is in their favor. I think we're gonna need 5 goals to beat them unless something changes.

A loss of any kind vs Canada + a Finland win puts us 3rd, with a QF matchup against the loser of the Czechia Sweden game.

Starting to feel like one of those WJCs where we only play 5 games...

It is interesting you have two teams going into tonight both likely not feeling great about their game to this point. Whoever comes out with the win is likely set up to make a run at this while whoever loses it I could see spiral to a QF exit.

 

[Joe Zanussi]

It is interesting you have two teams going into tonight both likely not feeling great about their game to this point. Whoever comes out with the win is likely set up to make a run at this while whoever loses it I could see spiral to a QF exit.

Yup. Very interesting. The winner of this game becomes the Vegas favorite. The loser is in dangerous waters. But, in reality, either team could still get gold. Fun.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I think you just have to suck it up and put Moore with Leonard and Perreault. They don't need a highly-skilled centerman to succeed, they just need a guy who can crash and bang, forecheck, put pressure on the D, and force turnovers. Moore is that guy.

I'd put Hagens with Stiga and Eiserman.

Bingo.

They arent changing up the top line lol. With any puck luck that line has 2-3 more goals last game.

Those guys aren’t the issue. It’s everyone else. Eiserman needs Hagens. Perreault and Leonard don’t.

 

[AmericanDream]

US vs Canada should be a staple every New Years Eve no matter where played. This game gets attention with little to compete with, even Eueopean countries would benefit with more people tuning in.

That being said. This game will tell us a lot. Does Carle make some tweaks here or does he continue to ride the same lines hoping it clicks? Hostile crowd as always,absolutely love these games. Best time of the year for hockey fans. Let's go boys!!!!

 

[William H Bonney]

Announced lines:

Perreault – Hagens – Leonard
Moore – Nelson – Ziemer
Stiga – Terrance – Connelly
Burnevik – Svoboda – Plante
Eiserman

Fortescue – Buium
Hutson – Kleber
Ralph – Hensler
Minnetian

Augustine
Slukynsky

Scratches: Willis, Fischer, Hillebrandt

 

[William H Bonney]

I think these lines, at least on paper, are much improved.

Ideally I think you'd balance the depth a bit by moving Hagens to a new line, but I don't think that's as obvious a move with Eiserman struggling so much the staff rightfully doesn't trust him to take a regular shift, and that's who you'd target Hagens moving to help. Hagens would look good between Stiga and Connelly as well, but Connelly has been an anchor himself so far, so I'm not surprised they're still front loading the first line. If the first line looks off though, I'd quickly slot in Moore or Nelson to that line and put Hagens with Stiga. It's important we get three lines going.

I would also dress Willis over Burnevik but it's not that consequential.

 

[MTU34]

I think these lines, at least on paper, are much improved.

Ideally I think you'd balance the depth a bit by moving Hagens to a new line, but I don't think that's as obvious a move with Eiserman struggling so much the staff rightfully doesn't trust him to take a regular shift, and that's who you'd target Hagens moving to help. Hagens would look good between Stiga and Connelly as well, but Connelly has been an anchor himself so far, so I'm not surprised they're still front loading the first line. If the first line looks off though, I'd quickly slot in Moore or Nelson to that line and put Hagens with Stiga. It's important we get three lines going.

I would also dress Willis over Burnevik but it's not that consequential.

Eiserman at least does something off the puck. I’d have kept him in rotation and moved Connelly out but they’ve both been bad so I’m not sure it matters much. This is better than the status quo with those two together though

 

[AmericanDream]

Announced lines:

Perreault – Hagens – Leonard
Moore – Nelson – Ziemer
Stiga – Terrance – Connelly
Burnevik – Svoboda – Plante
Eiserman

Fortescue – Buium
Hutson – Kleber
Ralph – Hensler
Minnetian

Augustine
Slukynsky

Scratches: Willis, Fischer, Hillebrandt

Also be interesting to see how long Augustine's leash is. If he gives up a few softies, does he get pulled? Seems like a possible situation like we faced with Mike Lee getting pulled for Jack Campbell...albeit that was for the gold lol

 

[William H Bonney]

Also be interesting to see how long Augustine's leash is. If he gives up a few softies, does he get pulled? Seems like a possible situation like we faced with Mike Lee getting pulled for Jack Campbell...albeit that was for the gold lol

Yeah, Augustine definitely deserves a longer leash than most, but he should be close to the end of it. If he struggles at all tonight, you have to make the change and let Slukynsky try to steal the net.

 

[MTU34]

Math ends up being pretty simple for us. Win of any kind we finish first and play the Swiss. Loss of any kind we finish 3rd and get the Czechs

 

[AmericanDream]

Here we go boys!!

 

[William H Bonney]

Math ends up being pretty simple for us. Win of any kind we finish first and play the Swiss. Loss of any kind we finish 3rd and get the Czechs

Either could give the team fits but you would certainly prefer the Swiss no doubt.

Hopefully the team shows life tonight, regardless of the outcome. They've slept walked through the first 3.

 

[William H Bonney]

Let's hope Augustine's play on that first harmless shot isn't a sign of things to come

 

[AmericanDream]

Canada gonna chuck everything on net and rightfully so

 

[William H Bonney]

We need to hit the net and stop trying to pick the short side. That was two in a row. One of our challenges so far has been limited sustained offensive zone pressure and not getting pucks on net and mucking it up is a big part of that.

 

[AmericanDream]

Ralph looks steady out there. Liking his game more and more