This is my projected roster at the moment, recognizing that there is still a little over a month of hockey to be played before the roster is announced:
O'Reilly / McDavid / Stamkos
Marchand / Crosby / Bergeron
Huberdeau / MacKinnon / Stone
Dubois / Point / Marner
Couturier, Mangiapane
Theodore / Pietrangelo
Pelech / Makar
Weegar / Ekblad
Doughty, Chabot
Price
Binnington
Fleury
Forwards:
1st line: O'Reilly can assume the center's defensive responsibilities down low, take faceoffs on his strong side (~58%), and get the dirty work done along the words without giving up much offensively. And Stamkos is the finisher (and would take faceoffs on his strong side - 53%), with the two complementary linemates giving McDavid the ability to control the puck and the space to create offensively.
2nd line: Possession line, and our primary defensive/matchup line. This line would take most defensive zone starts (and certainly any critical d-zone starts), with two of the best faceoff men in the league on both sides of the ice (Bergeron is an absurd 62% so far this year). They would fulfill the same role as the Toews/Marleau/Carter line in 2014, and Toews/Richards/Nash in 2010, and would get as many minutes as the McDavid line in tight games.
3rd line: A very strong offensive line that can take advantage of favourable matchups. A recreation of MacKinnon's line in Colorado, with an all-around offensive threat on one side and a rugged, 200-foot player on the other.
4th line: Point on the 4th line is certainly a luxury, and Cooper should have no hesitation about playing these guys in any situation. I'd look for them to get a little more ice time than Babcock's 4th lines. Somewhat unorthodox in terms of the playmaking coming from the wing position, but Marner and Point have played together before and Dubois provides the size and physicality to offset the two smaller players. Marner is a question mark, but in a more limited role where he's not counted on to be the top producer, I have confidence he'll find a way to contribute offensively and will - at the very least - provide solid defensive play and penalty killing.
Extras: Mangiapane can slot in on the wing on any line, and while others are off to better starts I like Couturier's ability to step into the center position and provide stability and minimal line shuffling in the event of injury. Kyrou, Barzal, and Scheifele would certainly merit consideration here too, especially Kyrou if we wanted to bring along more speed and offense from the wing position. Consider him my 15th forward.
Overall, this will be a strong forward group. More natural wingers than is normal too, and the centers I would have playing the wing - O'Reilly, Bergeron, and Dubois - have done so for Canada before, internationally. The only real concern I have is with the age of our 2nd line forwards - Crosby and Bergeron are undoubtedly a little long in the tooth, but they've proven they're still good to go imo. I would still have no concern sending them out against Matthews, Ovechkin, etc. and would expect them to win those matchups. Might be a different story a year from now. A secondary, more minor concern, is lack of faceoff prowess on the 3rd and 4th lines, which is kind of a new problem for us (and stems from having more natural wingers on the team). I'd look to having guys like Stamkos, Bergeron, O'Reilly and Crosby help out in this area if/when needed.
Defence:
Overall, the pairings kind of speak for themselves. I still like Doughty and would have him in the 6-man rotation, but we're fairly deep on the right side. Moving Pietrangelo to his off side is an option, but regardless the pairings will work themselves out as the tournament progresses. I wouldn't expect Chabot to play much, but he is a LHS option and an absolute workhorse in Ottawa. Nurse, Toews and Reilly - all LHS - would merit consideration as the 8th defenceman as well.
