World Cup: Canada 4 Nations Tournament 2025 Roster Talk

[Community]

The fact is Zac Hyman should have been on the team to play with McDavid. This is a short tourny and hard for players to 'gel'.
Crosby has a history of making players on his line better; McDavid not so much other than Hyman. I am think Crosby with McDavid might be gold.

The original poster stated they didn't want Marner on the team.

Real arguments can be made for adding Scheifele, Hyman, Suzuki, and even Bedard, but added players would be replacing Marchand, Hagel, Jarvis, Cirelli, and/or Konecny. Not Marner given his top end offensive talent and good defensive/PK ability.

I do feel like Team Canada took a few too many forwards they viewed as role playing guys considering we already have top PK guys and great defensive players playing in the top 6 already. It might not make a difference considering their Bottom 6 are still very talented, but you never know.

Hell, why do you really need the bottom 6 to all be two-way guys when you have 4(?) of your top 6 forwards that have one or more top 5 finishes in Selke voting in their careers. I'd rather have a few more of our top offensive talents being available in case we're chasing a game since your top 6 can still be trusted when ahead. It's not like our top line is P. Kane - Kuznetsov - Ovechkin or something.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

The fact is Zac Hyman should have been on the team to play with McDavid. This is a short tourny and hard for players to 'gel'.
Crosby has a history of making players on his line better; McDavid not so much other than Hyman. I am think Crosby with McDavid might be gold.

Huh? he turned Pat Maroon into a 27-goal guy...hasn't come close since leaving

but yes, Hyman should have been there...he's a dog on the puck

 

[Avsfan1921]

OT seems like a good example of how Mackinnon likes to play... Hes a bit of a puck hog in a good way (because he's so damn skilled).

Don’t let a one game sample size fool you. He likes to carry the puck, and he’s damn good at it, but way too much is being made of this. For example, necas has absolutely thrived playing with MacKinnon and has had the puck on his stick an awful lot since joining.

This was simply a case of a guy that’s amped up and in the moment. Don’t let jaded Edmonton and Tampa fans pull you into the echo chamber.

I’m sure he’ll do more solo runs, as will Mcdavid, they are built on speed and power. But that is part of their game.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Another Blues fan.

The thing with Binnington wasn't *just* the questionable goals against, it was the fact he was swimming a lot in his net, constantly reacting to shots after they were already on the way to the net, rather than being square in his net and already in position to make the save.

So I never had confidence in Binnington even before that atrocious second goal because he looked so erratic all night.

 

[cneely]

Bedard is objectively terrible defensively. If you don't see that, then you really don't understand hockey.

Bedard isn't tasked with being a defensive player. On that team, his priority is to score.

If you can't see that, you really don't understand hockey.

 

[Community]

Don’t let a one game sample size fool you. He likes to carry the puck, and he’s damn good at it, but way too much is being made of this. For example, necas has absolutely thrived playing with MacKinnon and has had the puck on his stick an awful lot since joining.

This was simply a case of a guy that’s amped up and in the moment. Don’t let jaded Edmonton and Tampa fans pull you into the echo chamber.

I’m sure he’ll do more solo runs, as will Mcdavid, they are built on speed and power. But that is part of their game.

I'm 100% for it. If you're able to pull the D out of position fairly consistently then why wouldn't he? I'm also aware he is an excellent playmaker.

What I meant is that I'd rather him and McDavid both do that, but they can't do it very well if they're on the same line.

They're two of the absolute best players at attacking a d pairing in transition in a way that pulls the defense to them and allows for others to get open.

For example, Marner and Crosby's best attributes are their hockey IQ and playmaking. While Mackinnon and McDavid have that (obviously), their skating ability with the puck is their absolute best weapon IMO. Therefore, of the forwards, I think the puck should be on McDavid and Mackinnon's stick the most in transition. Once they've pulled the defending team out of position, they either attack the net or give the puck to Marner/Crosby with extra space to utilitze their best skillset.

 

[1989]

Just thinking about past international Team Canada rosters and how badly now Canadians would wish for even one of Smith, Ward, or Turco to be amongst this group.

I can't even dislike the goalie selections the staff made because it's basically what's available + international experience, I just lament the loss of greatness in Canadian goalie development.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Highman didn't make the team for a reason.

 

[Ratsreign]

Bennett seems a bit under rated by some in here, or maybe he’s seen as strictly an agitator/grinder.

But I’m ok with him being the scratch Saturday night.

 

[NyQuil]

I can't even dislike the goalie selections the staff made, I just lament the loss of greatness in Canadian goalie development.

Since the end of the Roy-Hasek-Brodeur era, the breakdown of Vezina winners by nationality:

USA - 5 (Thomas x2, Hellebuyck x2, Miller)
Russia - 4 (Bobrovsky x2, Vasilevsky, Shesterkin)
Canada - 3 (Price, Holtby, Fleury)
Finland - 2 (Rask, Rinne)
Sweden - 2 (Ullmark, Lundqvist)

2 of 3 of Canada's winning netminders are retired (with Fleury sort of kicking around but not really).

Canadian media like to point to Stanley Cup winners but that's more of an odds thing IMO given the quality of the netminders we have and the number of them in the league.

As far as the true elite guys, we are as sparse as we have ever been in our history as a hockey nation.

Looking at end of season All-Star team berths over that same span of time:

USA - 10
Russia - 8
Canada - 6 (the last one was in 2020-2021)
Sweden - 5
Finland - 3

 

[ORRFForever]

You never wanted the player 4th in the league in scoring? Cmon...

You must not have been around the International Thread very much. I caught grief for YEARS over how much I bash Marner (I'm a Leaf fan) and how I did NOT want him anywhere Team Canada.

Posters would say, "Remember that idiot (me) who did not want Marner on Team Canada".

La direction de Team Canada regrette sa sélection de Samuel Montembeault

Voyez les détails!

www.habsolumentfan.com

According to Lebrun, Thompson wasn’t even their next choice, Blackwood was. Strange situation

What? That's insane.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Bedard isn't tasked with being a defensive player. On that team, his priority is to score.

If you can't see that, you really don't understand hockey.

All of the top players in the game are also tasked with scoring. Yet they are all much better defensively than Bedard.

There's a reason he was demoted to 13th forward at the WCs.

 

[Voight]

Just thinking about past international Team Canada rosters and how badly now Canadians would wish for even one of Smith, Ward, or Turco to be amongst this group.

I can't even dislike the goalie selections the staff made because it's basically what's available + international experience, I just lament the loss of greatness in Canadian goalie development.

Good article talking about the decline of good Canadian goalies (specifically from Quebec)

Why Quebec is no longer an NHL goalie factory

I remember distinctly Martin Brodeur swelling with pride during the latter stages of the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, when three of the four No. 1 goaltenders in the conference finals hailed from Que…

nypost.com

 

[ORRFForever]

Bedard isn't tasked with being a defensive player. On that team, his priority is to score.

If you can't see that, you really don't understand hockey.

Come on, @cneely, Bedards's not ready at 19. Time to let it go.

 

[johnnyonthspot]

Huh? he turned Pat Maroon into a 27-goal guy...hasn't come close since leaving

but yes, Hyman should have been there...he's a dog on the puck

Maroon was bound to have one good season

Agreed in a short tourney the chemistry he has with McD and his relentless play should have been enough for him to be there over Hagel or Koneckniy

 

[1989]

Come on, @cneely, Bedards's not ready at 19. Time to let it go.

I could argue though that it's OK that's he's not ready. This international tournament is likely going to be one of the least consequential in terms of win or lose, but the quality of rosters is through the roof. Only one player under 25 (Jarvis, freshly 23) and Hagel/Makar are 26, and neither player has ever had the same talent expectations as Bedard does, although obviously Makar showed up once he made the Avalanche roster.

I'm not saying Bedard specifically belongs on this roster, but it wouldn't have been egregrious to have had brought a couple more players under 25 or 26 especially with the lack of national team experience available post 2016 outside of the World Jrs. tournaments.

Wouldn't have been bad for a few more of Canada's youngest talents with elite potential to play with the likes of Crosby and McDavid.

 

[kevsh]

I just lament the loss of greatness in Canadian goalie development.

Current advanced stats leaders (Goals Saved Above Expected, Min. 28 GP):
2. Logan Thompson
6. Joseph Woll
8. Mackenzie Blackwood

That's three Canadians in the top 10. Want to guess how many other teams have more than two? Zero.

Also, in the top 20: Kuemper, Talbot, Hill & Montembeault. At 7 total, that's just over 1/3 of the top 20 goalies right now are Canadian, more than any other country.

We don't have a Roy or Brodeur in this generation, or even the #1 guy (this season at least) but I believe it's less a result of poor goalie development than the reality that other countries are catching up at every position - see the past two WJC's for example.

So likely we're past the days of dominating anywhere, including between the pipes, but we still turn out more very good goalies overall than anyone else.

(And a note about the GSAx as a metric, I get there isn't on perfect one and we can argue about which is more indicative of a goalie's performance but my guess is most of the same names will still appear at or near the top regardless which one we use)

 

[ORRFForever]

I could argue though that it's OK that's he's not ready. This international tournament is likely going to be one of the least consequential in terms of win or lose, but the quality of rosters is through the roof. Only one player under 25 (Jarvis, freshly 23) and Hagel/Makar are 26, and neither player has ever had the same talent expectations as Bedard does, although obviously Makar showed up once he made the Avalanche roster.

I'm not saying Bedard specifically belongs on this roster, but it wouldn't have been egregrious to have had brought a couple more players under 25 or 26 especially with the lack of national team experience available post 2016 outside of the World Jrs. tournaments.

Wouldn't have been bad for a few more of Canada's youngest talents with elite potential to play with the likes of Crosby and McDavid.

NHL players prime's are usually between 25 and 29 so...

I like the team.

 

[McMoMoney29]

Hated us booing Swedens players. I guess that’s just what they do in Montreal every game? Still hated it and was embarrassed to be Canadian when we were booing Sweden especially in the intros. At least the Canadian players made me proud

 

[NyQuil]

I could argue though that it's OK that's he's not ready. This international tournament is likely going to be one of the least consequential in terms of win or lose, but the quality of rosters is through the roof. Only one player under 25 (Jarvis, freshly 23) and Hagel/Makar are 26, and neither player has ever had the same talent expectations as Bedard does, although obviously Makar showed up once he made the Avalanche roster.

I'm not saying Bedard specifically belongs on this roster, but it wouldn't have been egregrious to have had brought a couple more players under 25 or 26 especially with the lack of national team experience available post 2016 outside of the World Jrs. tournaments.

Wouldn't have been bad for a few more of Canada's youngest talents with elite potential to play with the likes of Crosby and McDavid.

If it’s a “best on best” tournament, then bring the best team that has the best chance to win.

The World Championships serve well as a proving ground for younger talent.

 

[TheDoldrums]

Current advanced stats leaders (Goals Saved Above Expected, Min. 28 GP):
2. Logan Thompson
6. Joseph Woll
8. Mackenzie Blackwood

That's three Canadians in the top 10. Want to guess how many other teams have more than two? Zero.

Also, in the top 20: Kuemper, Talbot, Hill & Montembeault. At 7 total, that's just over 1/3 of the top 20 goalies right now are Canadian, more than any other country.

We don't have a Roy or Brodeur in this generation, or even the #1 guy (this season at least) but I believe it's less a result of poor goalie development than the reality that other countries are catching up at every position - see the past two WJC's for example.

So likely we're past the days of dominating anywhere, including between the pipes, but we still turn out more very good goalies overall than anyone else.

(And a note about the GSAx as a metric, I get there isn't on perfect one and we can argue about which is more indicative of a goalie's performance but my guess is most of the same names will still appear at or near the top regardless which one we use)

You’re a Leafs fan? Woll is American lol

 

[1989]

Current advanced stats leaders (Goals Saved Above Expected, Min. 28 GP):
2. Logan Thompson
6. Joseph Woll
8. Mackenzie Blackwood

That's three Canadians in the top 10. Want to guess how many other teams have more than two? Zero.

Also, in the top 20: Kuemper, Talbot, Hill & Montembeault. At 7 total, that's just over 1/3 of the top 20 goalies right now are Canadian, more than any other country.

We don't have a Roy or Brodeur in this generation, or even the #1 guy (this season at least) but I believe it's less a result of poor goalie development than the reality that other countries are catching up at every position - see the past two WJC's for example.

So likely we're past the days of dominating anywhere, including between the pipes, but we still turn out more very good goalies overall than anyone else.

(And a note about the GSAx as a metric, I get there isn't on perfect one and we can argue about which is more indicative of a goalie's performance but my guess is most of the same names will still appear at or near the top regardless which one we use)

But the problem I see here isn't advanced stats, or single season success, or even dominance. I'm not asking for a Canadian goalie to be Brodeur or even Luongo.

It's the clear fact that Canada as a whole, whether from Vancouver, Montreal or Moose Jaw, have stopped producing quality goaltending. I'm not asking for an embarassment of riches, I'm asking for one obvious #1 to lead the way in net for the foreseeable future on the Men's National Teams.

Hill, Thompson (if he were included on this roster), Montembault and Binnington - depending on who you ask - are all considered to be good candidates but nobody has taken the next step to being considered the best option every time. I don't know if they are future Conn Smythe/Vezina winners, either.

I'm just asking for one clear-cut #1. Maybe it's Thompson or Blackwood. But the problem to me is that it's not obvious.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

Hated us booing Swedens players. I guess that’s just what they do in Montreal every game? Still hated it and was embarrassed to be Canadian when we were booing Sweden especially in the intros. At least the Canadian players made me proud

...booing the opposition isn't just a Montreal thing; it happens everywhere...the important thing is that they didn't boo Sweden's Anthem; respecting the opponent & booing the players are two different things...

 

[1989]

If it’s a “best on best” tournament, then bring the best team that has the best chance to win.

The World Championships serve well as a proving ground for younger talent.

Yeah, and I understand that but the rosters on World Championships are 1B teams. It wouldn't be bad to have the newest generation experience true best-on-best earlier in their careers especially at a (likely) nothingburger tournament.

 

[McMoMoney29]

...booing the opposition isn't just a Montreal thing; it happens everywhere...the important thing is that they didn't boo Sweden's Anthem; respecting the opponent & booing the players are two different things...

It happens everywhere when players warrant a booing. Only in Montreal do people boo for absolutely nothing