WJC: Canada 2019 Roster Talk

[newfy]

Not sure if anyone here listens to podcasts but Bob Mackenzie's Bobcast this past Friday talked about team Canada. I listened to it and he was more talking about who will get invited to camp, then hes attending camp, and then I think hes going to mock up his final team. Although he did say he'll be talking about the American and Canadian teams in his next one after the camp invites are released for Canada.

He mentioned Bouchard is a star, the likely number one dman and will be critical on the back end. He seemed a little lower on PO Jospeh than many on here are. His 7 D he listed for camp invites were Bouchard, Dobson, Smith, Brook, Joseph, McIsaac and Mitchell. He said another couple will get invites but the way he said it I think he feels these guys are the top 7 heading into camp. Bernard Docker was mentioned as a possibility.

Off the top of my head excluding the NHLers getting released he mentioned Glass and Suzuki as pretty much locks to be on the team at forward. He actually mentioned Veleno a lot earlier than I expected as well and I'm a wings fan. He was about the 6th forward mentioned and Outside of the above players he was the first center talked about and I think this was before his recent massive multipoint games. He said hes not sure Vilardi will even get released if hes healthy on time because LA might want him with them. Leeson he thought was a borderline lock to play too and could be this years Batherson

Cant really think of anything else right now but thought I would pass it along. The 7 D arent surprising to me but some of the talk about forwards was interesting

 

[PuckLife]

Not sure if anyone here listens to podcasts but Bob Mackenzie's Bobcast this past Friday talked about team Canada. I listened to it and he was more talking about who will get invited to camp, then hes attending camp, and then I think hes going to mock up his final team. Although he did say he'll be talking about the American and Canadian teams in his next one after the camp invites are released for Canada.

He mentioned Bouchard is a star, the likely number one dman and will be critical on the back end. He seemed a little lower on PO Jospeh than many on here are. His 7 D he listed for camp invites were Bouchard, Dobson, Smith, Brook, Joseph, McIsaac and Mitchell. He said another couple will get invites but the way he said it I think he feels these guys are the top 7 heading into camp. Bernard Docker was mentioned as a possibility.

Off the top of my head excluding the NHLers getting released he mentioned Glass and Suzuki as pretty much locks to be on the team at forward. He actually mentioned Veleno a lot earlier than I expected as well and I'm a wings fan. He was about the 6th forward mentioned and Outside of the above players he was the first center talked about and I think this was before his recent massive multipoint games. He said hes not sure Vilardi will even get released if hes healthy on time because LA might want him with them. Leeson he thought was a borderline lock to play too and could be this years Batherson

Cant really think of anything else right now but thought I would pass it along. The 7 D arent surprising to me but some of the talk about forwards was interesting

Great update - did he mention any of the Soo Greyhounds - Frost, Hayton or Villalta?

 

[newfy]

Great update - did he mention any of the Soo Greyhounds - Frost, Hayton or Villalta?

Mentioned all 3. Was the highest on Hayton making the team it seemed. I think he was the third non-nhler mentioned and thought he would play a great two way game in the tourney. Frost he mentionedbut didnt seem as high on. He had Villalta as a top 3 goalie over Olivier Rodrigue. The other 2 were Dipietro obviously and then Ian Scott from Prince Albert. Sounded like Scott and Villalta will be battling for that back up spot.

But I'm not sure if all these guys were mentioned in order of who hes highest on exactly either. Sometimes he outright said he was high on guys, others I'm kinda inferring. He said his next podcast will probably touch on it more once he know the invite list. The invite list is supposed to be small so it might be easier to speculate at line combos and players potential roles on the team

 

[PuckLife]

Mentioned all 3. Was the highest on Hayton making the team it seemed. I think he was the third non-nhler mentioned and thought he would play a great two way game in the tourney. Frost he mentionedbut didnt seem as high on. He had Villalta as a top 3 goalie over Olivier Rodrigue. The other 2 were Dipietro obviously and then Ian Scott from Prince Albert. Sounded like Scott and Villalta will be battling for that back up spot.

But I'm not sure if all these guys were mentioned in order of who hes highest on exactly either. Sometimes he outright said he was high on guys, others I'm kinda inferring. He said his next podcast will probably touch on it more once he know the invite list. The invite list is supposed to be small so it might be easier to speculate at line combos and players potential roles on the team

Thanks - I like what you heard.

 

[ProspectsSTC]

Bouchard will certainly be the best offensive D on Canada and he has a great outlet pass, but I worry about how he'd play with the puck hemmed in the Canada zone or off the rush much more than I would worry about how Brook would play. I still expect Bouchard to play top line minutes, but I think Brook will force his way into the top 4 at some point in the tournament, he's been ridiculous this year, which is why that "needs to earn his spot" comment was hilarious.

 

[SpoolCat]

Canada has a really good defense. The minutes should be relatively even. If anyone is playing close to what Thomas Chabot was playing in 2017 something has gone wrong.

 

[JackSlater]

If am certainly expecting the minutes among the defence and hopefully the forwards to be pretty even. This should be a deep team, but also a team without any superstars. At the senior level Canada has increasingly tried to keep minutes pretty even, and in this situation it would be wise for the junior team to do the same.

In Chabot's case the issue was largely that Myers was injured and Bean was a liability, so there were too many extra minutes available even for a player who performed so admirably. If the defencemen are well selected it shouldn't be an issue. McKenzie is usually by far the best predictor of what hockey Canada will do, and the players he has mentioned (Smith, Bouchard, Dobson, Joseph, Brook, McIsaac, Mitchell, Bernard-Docker) are all pretty obvious and reasonable options. I am optimistic for now.

 

[montreal]

Brook's been heating up at the right time, since returning from the Russian series in 7 games he's got 14 pts and is a +15. He now leads the WHL defensemen in goals, tied for 3rd in assists and 2nd in points. He's at a 1.53 ppg, just behind Smith's 1.55

 

[All Mighty]

Reign play tomorrow, Friday and Sunday. that will be his 3 game conditioning stint. not sure if he has to dress for a game in order for it to count. but at least the timing lines up well for invites to camp, which is Monday, I suspect.

Comtois played 4 games in his conditioning stint. I think the real deadline is 14 days starting the day of assignment.

 

[Janne Niinimaa]

I think Smith and Brook are going to be the 2 guys that are relied on the most at 5 v 5. Bouchard is going to be a great offensive weapon while Dobson and McIsaac are going to be shut down guys (or at least that's how they should be used. PO Joseph is a hit or miss whenever I watch him play. He should be a power play guy with limited minutes in every other situation.

 

[LeafChief]

This team has the potential to be really good if the brass makes the right picks.

Cozens and Lafrenniere should be on this team.

 

[JackSlater]

I think Smith and Brook are going to be the 2 guys that are relied on the most at 5 v 5. Bouchard is going to be a great offensive weapon while Dobson and McIsaac are going to be shut down guys (or at least that's how they should be used. PO Joseph is a hit or miss whenever I watch him play. He should be a power play guy with limited minutes in every other situation.

Joseph's strongest asset is his defensive play. He's very unlikely to see any powerplay time.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

I have a feeling Smith will be 1st PP 1st 5on5 and 2nd PK. Why wouldn't you play him in those situations.

 

[biturbo19]

I have a feeling Smith will be 1st PP 1st 5on5 and 2nd PK. Why wouldn't you play him in those situations.

I think whether Ty Smith makes it onto the 1st PP Unit will kinda depend on whether they go with 1D or 2D. If it's 2D, it'd make sense...but if they just go with 1D at the top of the umbrella, i think Bouchard probably has the leg up on that. He's also a great PP quarterback and like you said, Smith will probably be getting a lot of minutes in other situations already.

Could also come down to setup though. With guys i'd think are locks up front for the PP to flow through like Glass and Suzuki, they're both RHS already. So while teams usually like a big RHS back there (Bouchard), it may work better with a Lefty at the point if that's how it sets up, if they want to run things off the LW half wall.

I don't think going with 2 Defencemen would be a bad thing in this case though, considering the level of talent they could put out with both Bouchard and Smith who can both quarterback and play rover.

 

[greasysnapper]

Maxime Comtois - Cody Glass - Brett Leason
Alex Formenton - Robert Thomas - Nick Suzuki
Dylan Cozens - Morgan Frost - Fix-Wolansky
Liam Foudy - Barrett Hayton - Michael Rasmussen
Alexis Lafreniere

Ty Smith - Josh Brook
Brayden Pachal - - Noah Dobson
Nick Beaudin - Evan Bouchard
PO Joseph

Ian Scott
Mike DiPietro


That's my lineup right now. Besides hoping some of the big boys get released it features a guy I don't know if anyone's mentioned for the Canadian blueline in Pachal. Kid can skate, has a good Right handed shot, and is probably one of THE BEST U20 Canadian defenders. There's 3 reasons Prince Albert only has 1 loss so far this season. Scott, Leason's a big one, but Pachal, the PA captain, on the backend is another. Hell, I almost would be willing to put Hayes on this team too. Why mess with dominance?

 

[coolwood]

That's my lineup right now. Besides hoping some of the big boys get released it features a guy I don't know if anyone's mentioned for the Canadian blueline in Pachal. Kid can skate, has a good Right handed shot, and is probably one of THE BEST U20 Canadian defenders. There's 3 reasons Prince Albert only has 1 loss so far this season. Scott, Leason's a big one, but Pachal, the PA captain, on the backend is another. Hell, I almost would be willing to put Hayes on this team too. Why mess with dominance?

I've admittedly never heard of Pachal and don't watch the whl but, I don't understand why him being a righty matters when you then put him on the left. I think the right side is pretty much already decided.

Dominance in major junior is a totally different animal from international competition.

 

[Boonk]

Maxime Comtois - Cody Glass - Brett Leason
Alex Formenton - Robert Thomas - Nick Suzuki
Dylan Cozens - Morgan Frost - Fix-Wolansky
Liam Foudy - Barrett Hayton - Michael Rasmussen
Alexis Lafreniere

Ty Smith - Josh Brook
Brayden Pachal - - Noah Dobson
Nick Beaudin - Evan Bouchard
PO Joseph

Ian Scott
Mike DiPietro


That's my lineup right now. Besides hoping some of the big boys get released it features a guy I don't know if anyone's mentioned for the Canadian blueline in Pachal. Kid can skate, has a good Right handed shot, and is probably one of THE BEST U20 Canadian defenders. There's 3 reasons Prince Albert only has 1 loss so far this season. Scott, Leason's a big one, but Pachal, the PA captain, on the backend is another. Hell, I almost would be willing to put Hayes on this team too. Why mess with dominance?

No way hes making it over McIsaac or B.Docker.

 

[Janne Niinimaa]

Maxime Comtois - Cody Glass - Brett Leason
Alex Formenton - Robert Thomas - Nick Suzuki
Dylan Cozens - Morgan Frost - Fix-Wolansky
Liam Foudy - Barrett Hayton - Michael Rasmussen
Alexis Lafreniere

Ty Smith - Josh Brook
Brayden Pachal - - Noah Dobson
Nick Beaudin - Evan Bouchard
PO Joseph

Ian Scott
Mike DiPietro


That's my lineup right now. Besides hoping some of the big boys get released it features a guy I don't know if anyone's mentioned for the Canadian blueline in Pachal. Kid can skate, has a good Right handed shot, and is probably one of THE BEST U20 Canadian defenders. There's 3 reasons Prince Albert only has 1 loss so far this season. Scott, Leason's a big one, but Pachal, the PA captain, on the backend is another. Hell, I almost would be willing to put Hayes on this team too. Why mess with dominance?

Pachal and Hayes have close to 0% chance of making this team IMO. Pachal is a RHD like you said and there is no way they play him on his off hand over guys like McIsaac, Joseph, Beaudin and hell even Byram to give him experience. Those guys have the name, draft pedigree and experience playing for Canada at other levels.

Fix-Wolansky may have a shot in a Batherson role.

 

[kyle44]

From John Hoven who covers the LA Kings:

"From what we’ve been able to gather, the plan for Vilardi at this point is to play two more games with the Reign (tonight in Stockton and then home on Sunday). That’s the maximum allowed under this conditioning assignment. The Kings can – and will most likely – petition for two additional contests, which would be a pair of Reign road games on December 7 and 8. From there, Vilardi needs to be on the NHL roster or sent back to junior, as he is ineligible to play in the AHL this season.

Not so fast, though.

As we alluded to in a recent article, and what has since been confirmed to us by two different sources, assuming Vilardi is healthy after his five-game conditioning assignment, the plan is for him to attend Team Canada’s World Junior Championship evaluation camp."

This sounds very promising.

 

[JackSlater]

From John Hoven who covers the LA Kings:

"From what we’ve been able to gather, the plan for Vilardi at this point is to play two more games with the Reign (tonight in Stockton and then home on Sunday). That’s the maximum allowed under this conditioning assignment. The Kings can – and will most likely – petition for two additional contests, which would be a pair of Reign road games on December 7 and 8. From there, Vilardi needs to be on the NHL roster or sent back to junior, as he is ineligible to play in the AHL this season.

Not so fast, though.

As we alluded to in a recent article, and what has since been confirmed to us by two different sources, assuming Vilardi is healthy after his five-game conditioning assignment, the plan is for him to attend Team Canada’s World Junior Championship evaluation camp."

This sounds very promising.

From reports of his first two games Vilardi has not scored but has looked pretty solid.

 

[Mewmew]

Formenton-Glass-Comtois
Lafreniere-Suzuki-Leason
Frost-Hayton-Cozens
Bellerive-Veleno-Lavoie
Enwhistle

Joseph - Bouchard
Smith - Brooks
Villati - Dobson
Woo

DiPietro
Scott

 

[ProspectsFanatic]

Alexis Lafreniere - Cody Glass - Nick Suzuki
Maxime Comtois - Gabriel Vilardi - Owen Tippett
Kirby Dach - Morgan Frost - Brett Leason
Alex Formenton - Barrett Hayton - Stelio Mattheos
If healthy in time Jaret Anderson-Dolan, otherwise Joe Veleno.

Ty Smith - Evan Bouchard
Pierre-Olivier Joseph - Noah Dobson
Jared McIsaac - Josh Brook
Nicolas Beaudin

Mike DiPietro
Ian Scott

 

[Skolman]

I have a feeling Smith will be 1st PP 1st 5on5 and 2nd PK. Why wouldn't you play him in those situations.

Because Bouchard is much better, unless you roll out 2 defenseman on the PP, and if they are paired together 5 on 5

 

[JackSlater]

Because Bouchard is much better, unless you roll out 2 defenseman on the PP, and if they are paired together 5 on 5

He posts about and talks up New Jersey prospects every year. I'm sure that the commentary would be different had New Jersey ended up with Bouchard instead.

Alexis Lafreniere - Cody Glass - Nick Suzuki
Maxime Comtois - Gabriel Vilardi - Owen Tippett
Kirby Dach - Morgan Frost - Brett Leason
Alex Formenton - Barrett Hayton - Stelio Mattheos
If healthy in time Jaret Anderson-Dolan, otherwise Joe Veleno.

Ty Smith - Evan Bouchard
Pierre-Olivier Joseph - Noah Dobson
Jared McIsaac - Josh Brook
Nicolas Beaudin

Mike DiPietro
Ian Scott

That's quite close to how I would line things up, at least right now. I doubt that Dach makes it though and while I like Beaudin I can see him being replaced by Mitchell or maybe Bernard-Docker. I am curious to see if Vilardi, should be at camp, is used on the wing. Randomly this year sees a very strong group of wingers for Canada and a guy like Mattheos, who I like, may get squeezed out.

It should be interesting to see the invitation list tomorrow. I'm wondering if Hockey Canada will invite two NCAA defencemen and also what comes of Vilardi, though he may not be on the initial invite list. There seems to be a consensus building in this thread regarding most of the players, but the coaches and Hockey Canada may see things differently.

 

[LDN]

OHL Invite Predictions:

Forwards
Frost
Hayton
Formenton
N.Suzuki
Keating
Foudy
Tippett
Vilardi (if healthy)
Entwistle
Dellandria
R.McLeod
Studnika

Defencemen
Bouchard
Merkley
Bahl

Goaltender
Dipietro


Bolded are the players I think will make the team