Team Canada 2022

[ORRFForever]

Ya I'm not understanding the questions about Canada's D being small, I listed their height and weight above, has to be both one of the biggest and best skating D cores out there.

There is a lack of Chris Pronger "nastiness" - maybe that's what they are getting at.

I want Doughty there. Even if he is the 7th D-Man. We need the experience and he won't hurt us.

 

[Peiskos]

There is a lack of Chris Pronger "nastiness".

I want Doughty there. Even if he is the 7th D-Man. We need the experience and he won't hurt us.

Ya for me Doughty is still a lock, was on the 2010 and 2014 Olympic teams and hasn’t done anything to not warrant a spot, even as a 7th guy potentially.

 

[ORRFForever]

Ya for me Doughty is still a lock, was on the 2010 and 2014 Olympic teams and hasn’t done anything to not warrant a spot, even as a 7th guy potentially.

Yup.

He hasn't performed in LA in recent years but he's been on a crummy team and I could see him turning it up for the Olympics - altho, TBH, his +/- in LA is scary.

 

[JackSlater]

What does your D lineup look like, JS?

I'm sure it's here somewhere so just humour me.

It would have Theodore, Makar, Doughty, Pietrangelo, and then I'm not sure. Probably 12ish guys I'd think about for the other spots. It will be interesting to see who Canada goes with. I was confident about what the defence would be in 2014 but not for 2022. Some player or two might also break out early in the next season as well.

 

[ORRFForever]

It would have Theodore, Makar, Doughty, Pietrangelo, and then I'm not sure. Probably 12ish guys I'd think about for the other spots. It will be interesting to see who Canada goes with. I was confident about what the defence would be in 2014 but not for 2022. Some player or two might also break out early in the next season as well.

Fair enough.

I hate picking defensive pairings. Unless players play together on a team, I find it very difficult.

 

[ORRFForever]

Islanders up 1.

6 of the 7 points in today's game were from Canadian kids. Nice.

Having said that, Stamkos was invisible.

****

I like Gold Standard's 6...

S THEODORE	C MAKAR
D NURSE	A PIETRANGELO
T CHABOT	D DOUGHTY

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

I feel more comfortable with Nurse if Pietrangelo is by his side.

It's a nice mix of youth and experience. Not sure who will be the 7th D-Man. Maybe Toews or Parayko.

 

[Mathieukferland]

Toews instead of Nurse for me, can play a similar role to Vlasic and give Makar licence to get forward

Barzal was fantastic tonight, he’d be first line on any other country and might not even make this team

 

[ORRFForever]

Toews instead of Nurse for me, can play a similar role to Vlasic and give Makar licence to get forward

Barzal was fantastic tonight, he’d be first line on any other country and might not even make this team

Now you've changed my mind...

Theodore / Pietrangelo
Toews / Makar
Chabot / Doughty
Chychrun/Parayko

I don't know why I have no confidence in Nurse. Anyway, I give up.

 

[Gold Standard]

Now you've changed my mind...

Theodore / Pietrangelo
Toews / Makar
Chabot / Doughty
Chychrun/Parayko

I don't know why I have no confidence in Nurse. Anyway, I give up.

As an Avs fan I can live with that. but at this moment I still prefer Theodore with Makar and Nurse with AP. but final decision coming around Christmas time.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I'm not sure about O'Reilly on the 2nd line. I really like Stone, Reilly and Couturier on the 4th line. Still, you did a nice job.

I was just starting to buy into the idea of MacDavid and MacKinnon playing together and then you made a strong argument otherwise.

I worry about Nurse on the 2nd line with Makar. Are you sure Nurse is disciplined enough to stay home and let Makar get all the glory? Perhaps another rock solid D-Man would be better?

The way Bednar deploys his defence, the Avs rotate defence partners a lot throughout the course of a game.

So, Makar really plays with all kinds of different defenceman. He doesn’t need a certain style of defence partner to be successful, which should allow for some flexibility for Canada when setting up their D core.

 

[86Habs]

Here are my personal considerations for the roster:
- take guys that are in their prime over guys with experience
- don’t take guys that haven’t thrived in the NHL playoffs
- game breaking talent is required to break through hot goaltenders (ie don’t overthink it with role players)
- international rules won’t allow for as physical of a game as the NHL playoffs and it’s on small NHL ice so go with a speed focused fast transition team like the Avs, Canes, or VGK
- each line needs to have 2 guys that can take faceoffs, ideally one left and one right
- put defensively responsible players on each line so you can just roll 4 lines (ie don’t concentrate them all on a checking line)
- neither Mcdavid nor Mackinnon are great defensively or face off savants so they both need to have an elite defensive player on their lines
- always go LH/RH on D unless you have a guy who always plays his off hand

You ideally just want wave after wave of fast puck recovery in the dzone, lightning fast transition up the ice, tenacious forechecking on each line, and game breaking skill at all 5 positions to hem in opposing teams on every shift.

Of course you also need some guys for special situations - dzone faceoffs, PK, defending a lead, so you need multifunctional players.


With all that said, here we go:
F1: Barzal - Mcdavid - Stone
F2: O’reilly - Mackinnon - Point
F3: Marchand - Crosby - Bergeron
F4: Huberdeau - Couturier - Scheifele
Extras: Stamkos, Marner

D1: Theodore - Pietrangelo
D2: Nurse - Makar
D3: Chabot - Ekblad
D4: Chychrun - Parayko

F1: Barzal provides another high speed rush option with Mcdavid, and an RH for 1 timers on the left wall and for faceoffs. Stone provides elite defensive play and playmaking and doesn’t need to be the puck carrier to be effective.

F2: ROR and Mackinnon know each other well and are friends. ROR has played wing, takes LH faceoffs in both zones and takes defensive responsibilities as center. Mackinnon takes RH faceoffs in the ozone and Point takes RH faceoffs in the dzone. Point can skate with Mackinnon and is also defensively sound, elite offensively, good in big moments, and used to playing off of other play-driving players. Both ROR and Point can be effective without the puck but are also good enough offensively to create space and opportunities for Mackinnon.

F3: Vet line with proven chemistry, good balance of skating, IQ, playmaking, scoring, and defense.

F4: You’ve got an LH and RH center, balanced mix of offense, defense, skating, size and IQ. This line could pin opponents well on the cycle rather than relying on the rush like the top two lines.

Extras: You take Stamkos and Marner in case you need different looks to get the PP going despite Marner’s bad playoff record. He would have very little individual pressure on a team like this. There are enough guys who can PK amongst the forwards, and Marner can too if needed.

If you play a team that’s got a really hot, top heavy offensive threat, you mix it up and just roll O’reilly - Couturier - Stone out there for 20 minutes and completely suffocate them.

D1: Keep Theodore and Pietrangelo together for familiarity from playing together in Vegas. APie plays the role of 1D for this team and eats the most minutes.

D2: Makar can play with anyone and Nurse provides physicality and size to balance out Makar’s weakness. Both can play in all situations. Nurse familiar with Mcdavid and Makar with Mackinnon.

D3/D4: you can convince me either way with these four guys but they give you a good mix of skating, size, offense, defense and physicality. I’d really like to see Parayko on the team as a defensive rock and PK option but it’s hard to not run Ekblad as a regular either. You’ve got two promising and skilled workhorse top pairing LHDs on the left and I’d rather use them than play another RHD out of position.

D1-6 the way it’s written would be absolutely elite in transition. Weber is too old and too slow now. Doughty, I leave off unless he plays too well to ignore to start the next season.

Goalies, you have no choice but to roll Price and Fleury.

Well-thought out post and nothing really substantive to disagree with.

I do wonder whether Barzal would be a good fit on the wing (and on his off-wing at that), particularly as to my knowledge he has limited (if any) experience on the wing and certainly leans towards being a puck-dominant center rather than someone that can really play off of an elite center like McDavid. I do like Stone on McDavid's RW, and I really like how you've constructed your 2nd line, but I have to think that Armstrong and whoever ends up coaching this team will go with a different option on the 1st line - maybe Stamkos? Stamkos does give you a much better RHS faceoff option on McDavid's line than does Barzal, is a more proven one-touch goal scorer from the wing position, is competent defensively, and still has the speed to play at McDavid's pace (though no longer as fast as he once was...nor as fast as Barzal). I think this is make or break time for Stamkos, honestly. He has had a tendency in his career to kind of fade away as the playoffs progress, so if that trend continues he could certainly find himself on the outside looking in next February...or perhaps find himself in a more limited role that takes advantage of his PP and faceoff prowess.

As for Barzal, I'd dress him as the 13th forward and rotate those four last forwards through ES and special teams depending on game situation. He definitely merits a spot on this team.

I also think that Armstrong will be bring at least one power-forward, someone in the mold of Morrow in 2010. There are no Iginlas on offer anymore so it won't be someone of that quality, but with the Olympics being played on NHL-sized ice I'd like to see someone that can get in hard on the forecheck a few shifts per period, knock some pucks free, and get to the dirty areas. Benn was that guy up to a year or two ago, but he's not that guy now, and I'm not entirely sure who is. I keep coming back to Horvat, who I think is a viable option as the 14th forward unless he completely s***s the bed early next season (and yes, I acknowledge that's not a popular position). Horvat is a bit of a tweener in that he's not a prototypical power forward, nor is he a prototypical shutdown center, but does enough to fill in a few gaps on this team once all is said and done and has the credibility to play a limited, low-risk game if it comes to it. I like Perron as an option at the bottom of the forward group too, and would expect him to get a long look with Armstrong as EGM.

 

[Mathieukferland]

Well-thought out post and nothing really substantive to disagree with.

I do wonder whether Barzal would be a good fit on the wing (and on his off-wing at that), particularly as to my knowledge he has limited (if any) experience on the wing and certainly leans towards being a puck-dominant center rather than someone that can really play off of an elite center like McDavid. I do like Stone on McDavid's RW, and I really like how you've constructed your 2nd line, but I have to think that Armstrong and whoever ends up coaching this team will go with a different option on the 1st line - maybe Stamkos? Stamkos does give you a much better RHS faceoff option on McDavid's line than does Barzal, is a more proven one-touch goal scorer from the wing position, is competent defensively, and still has the speed to play at McDavid's pace (though no longer as fast as he once was...nor as fast as Barzal). I think this is make or break time for Stamkos, honestly. He has had a tendency in his career to kind of fade away as the playoffs progress, so if that trend continues he could certainly find himself on the outside looking in next February...or perhaps find himself in a more limited role that takes advantage of his PP and faceoff prowess.

As for Barzal, I'd dress him as the 13th forward and rotate those four last forwards through ES and special teams depending on game situation. He definitely merits a spot on this team.

I also think that Armstrong will be bring at least one power-forward, someone in the mold of Morrow in 2010. There are no Iginlas on offer anymore so it won't be someone of that quality, but with the Olympics being played on NHL-sized ice I'd like to see someone that can get in hard on the forecheck a few shifts per period, knock some pucks free, and get to the dirty areas. Benn was that guy up to a year or two ago, but he's not that guy now, and I'm not entirely sure who is. I keep coming back to Horvat, who I think is a viable option as the 14th forward unless he completely s***s the bed early next season (and yes, I acknowledge that's not a popular position). Horvat is a bit of a tweener in that he's not a prototypical power forward, nor is he a prototypical shutdown center, but does enough to fill in a few gaps on this team once all is said and done and has the credibility to play a limited, low-risk game if it comes to it. I like Perron as an option at the bottom of the forward group too, and would expect him to get a long look with Armstrong as EGM.

Perron cannot skate at best on best level, I do not care how well he did this year he will get found out very quickly for his lack of footspeed. Horvat is ok but his stock has fallen greatly after a good playoff in the bubble. If they want to bring a power forward I think Mantha is a name not very many people have mentioned, has excelled whenever he has played for hockey Canada and had a resurgence with Washington this year

 

[86Habs]

Perron cannot skate at best on best level, I do not care how well he did this year he will get found out very quickly for his lack of footspeed. Horvat is ok but his stock has fallen greatly after a good playoff in the bubble. If they want to bring a power forward I think Mantha is a name not very many people have mentioned, has excelled whenever he has played for hockey Canada and had a resurgence with Washington this year

Hadn't considered Mantha, honestly. You're right in that he's been off the radar for quite some time, but has a really good track record with Hockey Canada. For that reason, and for what he brings to the table in terms of size, scoring ability and skating, he may get a look.

I wouldn't have Perron on my team (there are a LOT of forwards I'd have on the list ahead of him), but would expect him to at least be considered given Armstrong's involvement and familiarity with him. Armstrong did mention Jordan Kyrou during one interview several months back, so you know he's at least considering Blues players and Perron was a pretty important piece in their 2019 Cup victory. O'Reilly and Perron work well together, but O'Reilly has proven he can work well with just about anyone at C or LW and I wouldn't expect him to be the kind of player that an entire line gets built around. With respect to his skating....we're on NHL-sized ice in 2022, so skating deficiencies for a handful of players can be masked (particularly when the remainder of the 2022 forwards are going to be very good to elite skaters). Perry and Morrow dragged their slow asses around Vancouver and were fairly effective in 2010, so I wouldn't consider it a deal-breaker if the player in question brought other necessary attributes to the table. I don't think Perron needs to be there, but having NHL GM's select these teams always opens the possibility for "homer" picks.

 

[XXIV97]

Toews instead of Nurse for me, can play a similar role to Vlasic and give Makar licence to get forward

Barzal was fantastic tonight, he’d be first line on any other country and might not even make this team

I don't see Toews making it if Nurse keeps up his play next season. Nurse plays a game that not many can play in the current NHL (physical and smooth skating).

Ken Holland is an associate GM so I feel like Nurse has the inside track

 

[86Habs]

Toews instead of Nurse for me, can play a similar role to Vlasic and give Makar licence to get forward

Barzal was fantastic tonight, he’d be first line on any other country and might not even make this team

Re: Toews (as an aside it would be odd to see Toews on a Team Canada roster without the name "Jonathan" before it), the management team needs to ask itself whether Toews should be on the team based on his own merits, instead of any familiarity/chemistry he may have with Makar. We brought Seabrook (a pretty good defenceman in his own right) to Vancouver as a defense partner for Keith, and was quickly relegated to the 7th defenceman role pretty quickly during the first game. Same thing happened with Muzzin at the 2016 World Cup. On the other hand, Pietrangelo and Bouwmeester were excellent for us in Sochi. Toews has never represented Canada internationally, so I suspect he has a hill to climb before Christmas 2021 but he's still young and may continue to improve. I'd say he is in the mix with a bunch of other players, the defense group is pretty wide open at this point I think.

 

[ORRFForever]

As an Avs fan I can live with that. but at this moment I still prefer Theodore with Makar and Nurse with AP. but final decision coming around Christmas time.

I'm just hoping familiarity helps in a short tournament and I wish I had more confidence in Nurse - I'm not sure why I don't.

 

[ORRFForever]

You all make strong points. Hockey Canada has a difficult decision ahead.

 

[bossram]

I would not have Nurse on the Canada blueline. There are just better options out there. People think he's a tough, two-way defenseman. But in reality, he's much more of an offensively-tilted guy that was just riding the percentages this season. If he doesn't have 16 goals this season (and there is a 0% chance his goal pace maintains at that rate), no one even looks at him for the team.

Theodore- Pietrangelo
Toews -Makar
Chabot - Spurgeon

Pelech - Pulock
Weegar - Ekblad
Rielly - Hamilton

These are all guys I would easily take over Nurse. Can't believe how little discussion Spurgeon has been getting considering he's been an elite two-way defenseman for half a decade. He's in my top-six. Chabot makes it too, but I could swap him with Rielly or Hamilton depending on who's hotter at the start of next season.

If you want defensive options, it's Pelech-Pulock. They're literally the strongest defensive pair in the NHL this season. Ekblad and Weegar were also very good, though I'm worried a little more about Weegar's foot speed and rush defense on the bigger ice. But for LD options, he's definitely in the mix.

 

[ORRFForever]

I would not have Nurse on the Canada blueline. There are just better options out there. People think he's a tough, two-way defenseman. But in reality, he's much more of an offensively-tilted guy that was just riding the percentages this season. If he doesn't have 16 goals this season (and there is a 0% chance his goal pace maintains at that rate), no one even looks at him for the team.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I would not have Nurse on the Canada blueline. There are just better options out there. People think he's a tough, two-way defenseman. But in reality, he's much more of an offensively-tilted guy that was just riding the percentages this season. If he doesn't have 16 goals this season (and there is a 0% chance his goal pace maintains at that rate), no one even looks at him for the team.

Theodore- Pietrangelo
Toews -Makar
Chabot - Spurgeon

Pelech - Pulock
Weegar - Ekblad
Rielly - Hamilton

These are all guys I would easily take over Nurse. Can't believe how little discussion Spurgeon has been getting considering he's been an elite two-way defenseman for half a decade. He's in my top-six. Chabot makes it too, but I could swap him with Rielly or Hamilton depending on who's hotter at the start of next season.

If you want defensive options, it's Pelech-Pulock. They're literally the strongest defensive pair in the NHL this season. Ekblad and Weegar were also very good, though I'm worried a little more about Weegar's foot speed and rush defense on the bigger ice. But for LD options, he's definitely in the mix.

This definitely shows the depth of the Canadian defence. Plenty of good options.

I’m really hoping Chabot improves his defence and puck management. I think he could really elevate this defence if he makes improvement in those areas next season.

I hope they bring versatile guys to fill the 7/8 D options. I’d look at players who can play both special teams units because that helps cover off potential injuries.

 

[bossram]

This definitely shows the depth of the Canadian defence. Plenty of good options.

I’m really hoping Chabot improves his defence and puck management. I think he could really elevate this defence if he makes improvement in those areas next season.

I hope they bring versatile guys to fill the 7/8 D options. I’d look at players who can play both special teams units because that helps cover off potential injuries.

With that in mind, and given the players I listed, you'd probably go with Toews/Spurgeon as the 7/8D guys. Perhaps elevate Pelech/Pulock. I just think the quality of Toews/Spurgeon is too much to leave out, plus you'd have two pairs with built-in chemistry.

Chabot is iffy for me to begin with. But I know he has Team Canada "cred" so he probably has more of an inside track over some other names.

 

[Mathieukferland]

I would not have Nurse on the Canada blueline. There are just better options out there. People think he's a tough, two-way defenseman. But in reality, he's much more of an offensively-tilted guy that was just riding the percentages this season. If he doesn't have 16 goals this season (and there is a 0% chance his goal pace maintains at that rate), no one even looks at him for the team.

Theodore- Pietrangelo
Toews -Makar
Chabot - Spurgeon

Pelech - Pulock
Weegar - Ekblad
Rielly - Hamilton

These are all guys I would easily take over Nurse. Can't believe how little discussion Spurgeon has been getting considering he's been an elite two-way defenseman for half a decade. He's in my top-six. Chabot makes it too, but I could swap him with Rielly or Hamilton depending on who's hotter at the start of next season.

If you want defensive options, it's Pelech-Pulock. They're literally the strongest defensive pair in the NHL this season. Ekblad and Weegar were also very good, though I'm worried a little more about Weegar's foot speed and rush defense on the bigger ice. But for LD options, he's definitely in the mix.

Chychrun?

 

[ORRFForever]

Chychrun?

I would like to see him on the team.

 

[therealdeal]

Here are my personal considerations for the roster:
- take guys that are in their prime over guys with experience
- don’t take guys that haven’t thrived in the NHL playoffs
- game breaking talent is required to break through hot goaltenders (ie don’t overthink it with role players)
- international rules won’t allow for as physical of a game as the NHL playoffs and it’s on small NHL ice so go with a speed focused fast transition team like the Avs, Canes, or VGK
- each line needs to have 2 guys that can take faceoffs, ideally one left and one right
- put defensively responsible players on each line so you can just roll 4 lines (ie don’t concentrate them all on a checking line)
- neither Mcdavid nor Mackinnon are great defensively or face off savants so they both need to have an elite defensive player on their lines
- always go LH/RH on D unless you have a guy who always plays his off hand

You ideally just want wave after wave of fast puck recovery in the dzone, lightning fast transition up the ice, tenacious forechecking on each line, and game breaking skill at all 5 positions to hem in opposing teams on every shift.

Of course you also need some guys for special situations - dzone faceoffs, PK, defending a lead, so you need multifunctional players.


With all that said, here we go:
F1: Barzal - Mcdavid - Stone
F2: O’reilly - Mackinnon - Point
F3: Marchand - Crosby - Bergeron
F4: Huberdeau - Couturier - Scheifele
Extras: Stamkos, Marner

D1: Theodore - Pietrangelo
D2: Nurse - Makar
D3: Chabot - Ekblad
D4: Chychrun - Parayko

F1: Barzal provides another high speed rush option with Mcdavid, and an RH for 1 timers on the left wall and for faceoffs. Stone provides elite defensive play and playmaking and doesn’t need to be the puck carrier to be effective.

F2: ROR and Mackinnon know each other well and are friends. ROR has played wing, takes LH faceoffs in both zones and takes defensive responsibilities as center. Mackinnon takes RH faceoffs in the ozone and Point takes RH faceoffs in the dzone. Point can skate with Mackinnon and is also defensively sound, elite offensively, good in big moments, and used to playing off of other play-driving players. Both ROR and Point can be effective without the puck but are also good enough offensively to create space and opportunities for Mackinnon.

F3: Vet line with proven chemistry, good balance of skating, IQ, playmaking, scoring, and defense.

F4: You’ve got an LH and RH center, balanced mix of offense, defense, skating, size and IQ. This line could pin opponents well on the cycle rather than relying on the rush like the top two lines.

Extras: You take Stamkos and Marner in case you need different looks to get the PP going despite Marner’s bad playoff record. He would have very little individual pressure on a team like this. There are enough guys who can PK amongst the forwards, and Marner can too if needed.

If you play a team that’s got a really hot, top heavy offensive threat, you mix it up and just roll O’reilly - Couturier - Stone out there for 20 minutes and completely suffocate them.

D1: Keep Theodore and Pietrangelo together for familiarity from playing together in Vegas. APie plays the role of 1D for this team and eats the most minutes.

D2: Makar can play with anyone and Nurse provides physicality and size to balance out Makar’s weakness. Both can play in all situations. Nurse familiar with Mcdavid and Makar with Mackinnon.

D3/D4: you can convince me either way with these four guys but they give you a good mix of skating, size, offense, defense and physicality. I’d really like to see Parayko on the team as a defensive rock and PK option but it’s hard to not run Ekblad as a regular either. You’ve got two promising and skilled workhorse top pairing LHDs on the left and I’d rather use them than play another RHD out of position.

D1-6 the way it’s written would be absolutely elite in transition. Weber is too old and too slow now. Doughty, I leave off unless he plays too well to ignore to start the next season.

Goalies, you have no choice but to roll Price and Fleury.

My favourite team posted so far. I agree with a lot of your philosophies.

 

[ORRFForever]

My favourite team posted so far. I agree with a lot of your philosophies.

Yes. He has a good perspective on how the team should be built.