Here's a look at where we're standing with defense.
To make the long story short, we can't overlook a single d-man who 1. has NHL experience and 2. sees regular minutes in their club team lineups - whether it's in the NHL or Europe.
As such, four guys are 100% locks: Heiskanen, Lindell, Hakanpää and Määttä. The Dallas trio is self-explanatory. And while Määttä is a little more than a bottom pairing guy in the Kings, at least he appears to be one of their preferred bottom pairing guys. And he clearly became one of Jalonen's trusted guys in the last spring's WC. So yeah, he's gonna make it.
Then there's a fifth name who likely would be getting regular minutes if he hadn't been injured in the first game of the season and has been sidelined since then: Jokiharju. The Sabres have provided no timetable for his return. Sources say he's wearing a boot. But if he makes it back in time, he's another Jalonen familiar and doesn't need to do anything more than be healthy to get the invite.
Then there's one more name who's a constant in his club team lineup: Ristolainen. Now, if the main argument for excluding him is that Jalonen's miffed at him for the numerous WC invitation declinations, I'd say that it's nearly certain that our coach couldn't ignore him in this situation for such a petty reason. But, alas, an argument could also be made that RR wouldn't be seeing many steady minutes if he didn't make $5M a year. He hasn't been a total disaster for Philly, but not exactly worth his salary either.
The rest of the NHL d-men appear to be bubble options: either constant healthy scratches or floating in and out of the lineup every second to third game. Välimäki looked like he's going to stick, but he's been scratched now for about two weeks straight. And I'm not sure how high Nutivaara would feature in the Panthers if he wasn't on IR. He probably isn't top-4 for them, but would he be one of their preferred bottom options, like Määttä is for the Kings?
Anyway, the situation here is that we have five NHL names who are essentially locks if healthy when the selections are made. With at least two more being needed, we have to look towards Europe. Which means Lehtonen and Vatanen both look quite likely to make it, bringing the total of locks and likelies to seven.
Which leaves us the 8th guy. The first name to bring up is obviously Risto - but Jalonen has the fig leaf of replacing him if one of the bubble creatures starts seeing more constant minutes.
One name people have been throwing around is Ohtamaa, but then Jalonen would have to give way with his earlier comment about small ice experience being a requirement, as Ohtamaa has zero. But there's another euro-based name who's got at least some NHL experience, is the coach's familiar: Pokka. Not calling him a lock or even likely, but he could be higher up the list than his frequency of showing up in this thread might indicate.
To sum up: Heiskanen, Lindell, Hakanpää, Määttä, Jokiharju, Lehtonen and Vatanen are looking at better-than-average odds of making it if healthy. Then there's room for one more - but for whom, that's the question. My pick, despite everything, would be Ristolainen, but we'll see.
That being said, the Olympics are a much shorter tournament than the WC - there's just three group stage games instead of seven. And given the schedule, it doesn't take a genius to work out the goalie workload. Finland plays Slovakia on Feb 10th, Latvia on Feb 11th, and Sweden on Feb 13th. So it's going to be the starter in net vs. Slovakia, the backup vs. Latvia, and from there the starter again 'til the bitter end.
To make the long story short, we can't overlook a single d-man who 1. has NHL experience and 2. sees regular minutes in their club team lineups - whether it's in the NHL or Europe.
As such, four guys are 100% locks: Heiskanen, Lindell, Hakanpää and Määttä. The Dallas trio is self-explanatory. And while Määttä is a little more than a bottom pairing guy in the Kings, at least he appears to be one of their preferred bottom pairing guys. And he clearly became one of Jalonen's trusted guys in the last spring's WC. So yeah, he's gonna make it.
Then there's a fifth name who likely would be getting regular minutes if he hadn't been injured in the first game of the season and has been sidelined since then: Jokiharju. The Sabres have provided no timetable for his return. Sources say he's wearing a boot. But if he makes it back in time, he's another Jalonen familiar and doesn't need to do anything more than be healthy to get the invite.
Then there's one more name who's a constant in his club team lineup: Ristolainen. Now, if the main argument for excluding him is that Jalonen's miffed at him for the numerous WC invitation declinations, I'd say that it's nearly certain that our coach couldn't ignore him in this situation for such a petty reason. But, alas, an argument could also be made that RR wouldn't be seeing many steady minutes if he didn't make $5M a year. He hasn't been a total disaster for Philly, but not exactly worth his salary either.
The rest of the NHL d-men appear to be bubble options: either constant healthy scratches or floating in and out of the lineup every second to third game. Välimäki looked like he's going to stick, but he's been scratched now for about two weeks straight. And I'm not sure how high Nutivaara would feature in the Panthers if he wasn't on IR. He probably isn't top-4 for them, but would he be one of their preferred bottom options, like Määttä is for the Kings?
Anyway, the situation here is that we have five NHL names who are essentially locks if healthy when the selections are made. With at least two more being needed, we have to look towards Europe. Which means Lehtonen and Vatanen both look quite likely to make it, bringing the total of locks and likelies to seven.
Which leaves us the 8th guy. The first name to bring up is obviously Risto - but Jalonen has the fig leaf of replacing him if one of the bubble creatures starts seeing more constant minutes.
One name people have been throwing around is Ohtamaa, but then Jalonen would have to give way with his earlier comment about small ice experience being a requirement, as Ohtamaa has zero. But there's another euro-based name who's got at least some NHL experience, is the coach's familiar: Pokka. Not calling him a lock or even likely, but he could be higher up the list than his frequency of showing up in this thread might indicate.
To sum up: Heiskanen, Lindell, Hakanpää, Määttä, Jokiharju, Lehtonen and Vatanen are looking at better-than-average odds of making it if healthy. Then there's room for one more - but for whom, that's the question. My pick, despite everything, would be Ristolainen, but we'll see.
Reality disagrees with you regarding Koskinen - beggars can't be choosers, and right now the backup job is his to lose. I'd prefer the case not being so, too, but personally not liking the situation won't make a lick of difference.
That being said, the Olympics are a much shorter tournament than the WC - there's just three group stage games instead of seven. And given the schedule, it doesn't take a genius to work out the goalie workload. Finland plays Slovakia on Feb 10th, Latvia on Feb 11th, and Sweden on Feb 13th. So it's going to be the starter in net vs. Slovakia, the backup vs. Latvia, and from there the starter again 'til the bitter end.
