Hmmm, interesting team. It looks fairly ugly on paper, respective of the talent pool we have to choose from, but its not as bad the teams some of the other countries will be fielding. Given the skillsets of some of the players chosen, they'll have clearly-defined roles and may therefore have the potential to gel a bit quicker than some of the other teams we've sent over in the past. I also like Tippett as the coach of this team, and depending on how this team performs he may work his way into Hockey Canada's portfolio of favoured coaches for best-on-best tournaments.
The defense looks relatively solid and well-balanced, and I'm certainly not going to complain about Reimer and Scrivens in goal. Travis Hamonic would have been a nice addition, given his invitation to the Olympic orientation camp last summer, but no biggie. Up front, the first thing that struck me is the abundance of natural centers (Turris, Bozak, Hodgson, Kadri, Monahan, Scheifele), and at least two will have to move over to the wing (perhaps another depending on who comes over after the 1st playoff round). I'm guessing Scheifele and Monahan would be the prime candidates based on style of play and seniority. Other guys who I thought would fit in well on this team were Clarke MacArthur, Bryan Little, Travis Zajac, and Adam Henrique, and I'm at a loss as to why they weren't invited (unless I missed something and they were invited, and refused). As currently constructed, this is a team that will have to grind out some wins.
What kind of help is on the way? For all of us (including myself) hoping for an influx of Avalance players (O'Reilly, MacKinnon, Barrie), that's probably not going to happen. Moulson would be a reasonable addition from Minny. Killorn (LW) and Purcell (RW) from Tampa. Of course Benn and Seguin would change the entire complexity of the team if they came over either as a package deal or individually, but I think Dallas has some fight left in them and I'm not going to get my hopes up for those guys making their way over anyway. Its too early to tell IMO on San Jose vs. Los Angeles (Williams would be a great addition) and Chicago vs. St. Louis. If St. Louis ends up going out, I'd love to see Jaden Schwartz there. Obviously Johansen and Murrya from Columbus. And Couturier and B Schenn from the Philly - NYR series. Again, too early to tell.
Perron - Turris - Scheifele
Huberdeau - Hodgson - Ward
Chimera ("A") - Bozak - Brouwer
Monahan - Kadri
Garrison - Bieksa ("A")
Methot ("C") - Rielly
Gudbranson - Ellis
Myers
Reimer
Scrivens
