Are we in Canada paranoid about 2026 or should we not be worried?

[Zybalto]

Why did you choose Hyman?

Like someone was saying earlier, he's got a long leash after last season and may be dealing with something right now. He's barely on there after last nights debacle with the Habs.

 

[Zybalto]

Jared McCann this season: 9 goals, 21 points in 19 games with a 64.52 ES goal differential


Goals/60 ranking for left wingers since the start of 2022/23 season:
1. Kaprizov
2. Forsberg
3. Ovi
4. McCann
5. Hyman
6. Kreider
7. Panarin
8. B. Tkachuk
9. Robertson
10. Kuzmenko

Talk about a guy being under the radar in the hockey world. Is he too much a defensive liability to have him on board like I do? I havnt seen a whole lot of him.

 

[ORRFForever]

Like someone was saying earlier, he's got a long leash after last season and may be dealing with something right now. He's barely on there after last nights debacle with the Habs.

Yup.

I'd rather have Duchene. Duchene is on fire and there is only 6 months difference in their age - vs Hyman. Of course, if McDavid wants Hyman, he will get him.

 

[Zybalto]

Yup.

I'd rather have Duchene. Duchene is on fire and there is only 6 months difference in their age - vs Hyman. Of course, if McDavid wants Hyman, he will get him.

Im sure we'll see the odd surprise or two once the rosters have been named. Duchene, Thomas, Bennett, Scheifele, etc.. not on my roster and making things tough. Hell, we could even get a surprise vet some considered off the team get picked.

 

[ORRFForever]

Im sure we'll see the odd surprise or two once the rosters have been named. Duchene, Thomas, Bennett, Scheifele, etc.. not on my roster and making things tough. Hell, we could even get a surprise vet some considered off the team get picked.

Brad Marchand is OLD and should NOT be on the team. We need to move on to the next generation. Unfortunately, unless he gets hurt, he'll be there.

Sid : Yes. Marchand : No!

 

[ORRFForever]

ORRFF Stats Watch (November 19, 2024)

Positives :

* Sam Reinhart with his 14 Goal.
* Mark Scheifele with his 10th, 11th and 12th Goal - HAT TRICK !!!
* Connor McDavid with his 8th and 9th Goal and 15th Assist.
* Brayden Point, back from injury, with his 9th and 10th Goal.
* Brandon Hagel with his 9th Goal.
* Jake Neighbours with his 6th Goal.
* Will Cuylle with his 6th Goal and 8th Assist.
* Evan Bouchard with his 5th Goal and 7th and 8th Assist.
* Josh Morrissey with his 16th and 17th Assist.
* Sid with his 13th Assist.
* Jordan Kyrou with his 12th Assist.
* Connor Bedard with his 11th and 12th Assist.
* Sam Bennett with his 9th Assist.
* Carter Verhaeghe with his 9th Assist.
* Robert Thomas with his 6th Assist.

* Morgan Barron with 2 Empty Net Short Handed Goals.


Goalies :

* Stuart Skinner (Edm) gave up 2 Goals / 29 shots in win over Ottawa.
* Tristen Jarry (Pitts) gave up 3 Goals / 35 shots in the loss to Tampa Bay.
* Jordan Binnington (St L) gave up 3 Goals on 27 shots in the loss to Minnesota.

Negatives :

 

[ORRFForever]

As @Pavel Buchnevich has said, Will Cuylle is having one heck of a season...

At 22 years of age, he is 0.82 PPG (17 GP 6 G, 8 A), while averaging less than 14 minutes a game - and NONE of his points are on the power play. He is also +14.

A player to watch.

**

@Pavel Buchnevich is easily one of the most objective posters at HF. He somehow gets as much pleasure from non American players excelling as he does when one of his countrymen excels. Only @Czechboy is comparable.

I wish I was more like them.

 

[ORRFForever]

I'm listening to the Christmas music on my TV. The song Most Wonderful Time Of The Year came on and it made me think of the World Juniors and the baby with the ear muffs who makes the funny "O" face - 0:59.



I wonder what that baby looks like now?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

As @Pavel Buchnevich has said, Will Cuylle is having one heck of a season...

At 22 years of age, he is 0.82 PPG (17 GP 6 G, 8 A), while averaging less than 14 minutes a game - and NONE of his points are on the power play. He is also +14.

A player to watch.

**

@Pavel Buchnevich is easily one of the most objective posters at HF. He somehow gets as much pleasure from non American players excelling as he does when one of his countrymen excels. Only @Czechboy is comparable.

I wish I was more like them.

Thanks for the kind words!

The best part about Cuylle isn’t even the offense either. 2025 will probably come too early for him, and 2026 will be difficult for a younger guy to make, but he’s like a perfect 4LW candidate for Canada with all he can do. He’s a better, less psychotic version of Tom Wilson right now, but I won’t go too far down that rabbit hole.

 

[Nucks2001]

I enjoy reading your posts and appreciate you basically single-handedly keeping these threads alive, but idk about this one....

Canada tried to get cute in '06, over thought it, and the picks aged like milk in a hot car.

Doan, Draper, Smyth, a slow and broken Bertuzzi instead of young and fresh Crosby, Staal, Spezza.

I feel like this roster would age in a similar way if Canada did poorly wondering why we took Bennett, Hagel, and an old Duchene over guys like Bedard, Johnston, Thomas etc.

Point is already named to the team and will be back in the lineup today so pointless to leave him off.

Also, when has Stone ever played C in his NHL career? Canada is stacked at C and we are needlessly converting a slow RW?

Bang on. Speed is even more important with today’s game. Sam Bennett and Duchene shouldn’t be taken. The same reason why Tom Wilson and Adam Lowry should be kept far away from this roster.

Hagel, is an ideal forechecker and agitator in today’s league though and plays with a ton of speed. In an ideal world, Hockey Canada should have left Marchand off and replaced him with Hagel. Hagel brings the intangibles that Marchand does, but at a younger age (what Marchand was at the 2016 WCOH). Travis Konency is another player that fits that role though I’m higher on Hagel because he plays LW, is bigger and has chemistry with Point.

Bedard and Laf should be on the roster. I don’t think all of Canada’s selections in 2006 were bad, but the only forward under-25 was Rick Nash. They surrounded their center core of Sakic and Thornton and LeCavalier with guys like Bertuzzi, Smyth, Draper and Doan. It helped that you had Nash, Iginla and St. Louis, but you had more grit than skill.

It helps that this team has a prime McDavid, MacKinnon, and Point, but this is another reason why I think Mitch Marner should be on the team. You need skill and Marner provides that.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

Bang on. Speed is even more important with today’s game. Sam Bennett and Duchene shouldn’t be taken. The same reason why Tom Wilson and Adam Lowry should be kept far away from this roster.

Hagel, is an ideal forechecker and agitator in today’s league though and plays with a ton of speed. In an ideal world, Hockey Canada should have left Marchand off and replaced him with Hagel. Hagel brings the intangibles that Marchand does, but at a younger age (what Marchand was at the 2016 WCOH). Travis Konency is another player that fits that role though I’m higher on Hagel because he plays LW, is bigger and has chemistry with Point.

Bedard and Laf should be on the roster. I don’t think all of Canada’s selections in 2006 were bad, but the only forward under-25 was Rick Nash. They surrounded their center core of Sakic and Thornton and LeCavalier with guys like Bertuzzi, Smyth, Draper and Doan. It helped that you had Nash, Iginla and St. Louis, but you had more grit than skill.

It helps that this team has a prime McDavid, MacKinnon, and Point, but this is another reason why I think Mitch Marner should be on the team. You need skill and Marner provides that.

Konecny plays both wings, so he has that in his favour. He's not a big guy, but plays an aggressive style that would work well in this format I think. At this point I'd be surprised if he wasn't selected.

Bennett's speed is fine, especially on NHL-sized ice. Stone's skating is fine on NHL-sized ice too. The thing with Bennett is that he's raised his level of play significantly the last two playoffs and made himself fairly indispensable to the Panthers' back-to-back finals runs AND he's off to a great start this season AND he brings an element of grit/forechecking ability/agitation that would complement some of the smaller players that are already on/should be on the roster.

I'm not sold on Bedard for this cycle. I have Lafreniere on my team but there's some projection in that pick. I'm more than fine with Hagel and have him on my team. Highly unlikely that Duchene makes it at this point in his career, but the guy has appeared in 8 tournaments for Canada at the senior level, so I'd expect there to at least be a conversation about him for that reason and due to his fantastic start to the season.

The way I see it:

Already on the team (x5):
McDavid
MacKinnon
Marchand
Point
Crosby

Locks/near locks (x3):
Marner
Reinhart
Stone

That's only 8 players out of 13 or 14 (depending on how many we can name to our roster). Lots of moving parts still.