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Olympics: Team USA 2022

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Agreed .... Fox & McAvoy are locks ... but who is the 3rd RHD - Jones or Carlson ?
 
William H Bonney said:
Carlson. Columbus is a dumpster fire, but Jones hasn't been playing up to his standards for awhile.
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I hope he and Werenski rebound next season under what is likely to be a new coaching staff. We have a deep pool of d-men though so it won't be a disaster if one or both don't make it. I believe they will though.
 
So based on all of that, fill in the blanks on defense ?
Slavin - McAvoy
_____ - Fox
_____ - Carlson
Werenski - Jones

is Hughes still a lock ? McDonagh ? Suter ? Hanifin ? Lindgren ? Grzelcyk ? Krug ?
 
danj7 said:
So based on all of that, fill in the blanks on defense ?
Slavin - McAvoy
_____ - Fox
_____ - Carlson
Werenski - Jones

is Hughes still a lock ? McDonagh ? Suter ? Hanifin ? Lindgren ? Grzelcyk ? Krug ?
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I don't think Hughes is a lock but I think he has a very good chance of making it. I don't think he needs as much insulating as his rough stretch with the Canucks this year would seem to indicate. That wouldn't be an issue on the U.S. Olympic team anyway. Others that I think are under serious consideration would be guys like McDonagh, Pesce, Suter, Petry, Trouba, Marino, and Pionk.
 
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danj7 said:
Can, has Pesce ever played the left side ????
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You would play him with Slavin like he does on the Canes. Here's my defense:

Fox/Carlson
Slavin/Pesce
Werenski/Jones
McAvoy/Hughes

The only one out of position would be one of Fox/Carlson. I think they could make that work.
 
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JiggsNY said:
Didn't see a thread so making one. I feel like this roster is going to be incredibly hard to whittle down. There are so many more options since our last best on best, so many young guys who have broken through, and a good amount of vets still sticking around and producing still (Pavelski, Pacioretty, Wheeler). There's probably 20ish deserving forwards and a lot of tough cuts. I can see arguments for all the guys I listed in my forward lineup. Defense is a little more straight forward, feel like theres an established top 8 guys or so (RD heavy for sure). Two goalies are no brainers.

Bolded are locks to make the team. Rest of the names listed in the lineup are guys who will have good arguments/ deserving to make the team. Longshots are unlikely, but not impossible one of them might end up in discussion. Also dont look into the line combinations, mostly just listing guys without too much thought on order.

M. Tkachuk - Matthews - Kane
Gaudreau - Eichel - Boeser
Connor - Larkin - Guentzel
B. Tkachuk - Hughes - Wheeler
Miller - Trocheck - DeBrincat
Pacioretty - Pavelski - Rust

Longshots: Tuch, Hayes, JVR, Atkinson, Garland, Farabee, Lee, Nelson, Kessel, Oshie, Kreider

Hughes - Carlson
Werenski - Jones
Slavin - McAvoy
Krug - Petry
Suter - Fox

Longshots: Pionk, Marino, Pesce, McDonagh, Yandle, Faulk

Hellebuyck
Gibson
Demko
Bishop
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As a Nucks fan loving this lineup. If Demko plays like he has does he have a chance to usurp Helly?
 
Pavel Buchnevich said:
Drop Hughes. Carlson plays PP1, so Hughes most valuable part of his game isn’t needed. There can be a battle for that last spot.
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Quinn averages less points on the PP than a guy like Cale. I know you hate him but he's a top pairing D at 21 who like the whole team had a rough start to the season defensively. He has been much better the last 21 games and provably hits another level next season.
 
Not gonna lie, will be cheering for team USA next year. Just an amazing group of young players and they could definitely be the best team in the Olympics.

I wonder in Josh Norris can squeak into the team if he continues to progress next season. The chemistry between him and Tkachuk is really good and hes pretty good defensively already.
 
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SENSational said:
Not gonna lie, will be cheering for team USA next year. Just an amazing group of young players and they could be the best team in in the Olympics.

I wonder in Josh Norris can squeak into the team if he continues to progress next season. The chemistry between him and Tkachuk is really good and hes pretty good defensively already.
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I think he could, if he takes his game to a higher tier. I think that Eichel, Matthews, and Larkin will be three of the four best centers. And we have a lot of quality wingers, so I can't really see a center making it at winger. If Norris can jump over the rest of the centers besides those three, he could make the team.
 
Yeah, Norris is an interesting choice. I like him a lot as a player and he might be a better current fit than a guy like Hughes who is making progress but might not be ready for this level of competition. It's an expanded roster though so maybe there is room for both.
 
J. Hughes is playing very well down the stretch and putting up the points. If he has a good off season and starts off well next season do you consider him for that third line center role and bump Larkin down to the 4th line? Pair him with a guy like B. Tkachuk and someone else that has strong goal scoring instincts (Jake Guentzel?) I've also noticed Gaudreau and M. Tkachuk playing together of late and playing well. Put them with someone like Matthews? Gaudreau could fill the Marner role and Tkachuk could be an amped up version of Hyman who usually plays on their line.
 
Like both lines a lot .... who would you have with Eichel ? Kane & Debrincat ?

Or maybe go:
Tkachuk - Matthews - Gaudreau
Guentzel - Eichel - Kane
Tkachuk - Hughes - Debrincat
____ - Larkin - ___
 
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danj7 said:
Like both lines a lot .... who would you have with Eichel ? Kane & Debrincat ?

Or maybe go:
Tkachuk - Matthews - Gaudreau
Guentzel - Eichel - Kane
Tkachuk - Hughes - Debrincat
____ - Larkin - ___
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I'd keep Kane and DeBrincat together. Not sure if they are a good fit with Eichel though as both he and Kane like to have the puck a lot. We have some good depth now so this is a tough exercise. Some very good players are going to be left off this team.
 
Agreed - fun to try and figure out the options .... how about this then:
Debrincat - Matthews - Kane
Gaudreau - Eichel - Tkachuk
Tkachuk - Hughes - Guentzel
____ - Larkin - ___
 
danj7 said:
Agreed - fun to try and figure out the options .... how about this then:
Debrincat - Matthews - Kane
Gaudreau - Eichel - Tkachuk
Tkachuk - Hughes - Guentzel
____ - Larkin - ___
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I could see something like that. So many mane names to choose from. On that 4th line you could have Rust and Connor.
 
Sweet !
Debrincat - Matthews - Kane
Gaudreau - Eichel - Tkachuk
Tkachuk - Hughes - Guentzel
Connor - Larkin - Rust

... then maybe either Pavelski or Miller as the 13th Forward ... for position versatility, PK and faceoffs.

D we had ......
Slavin - Pesce
Werenski - Jones
Hughes - McAvoy
Fox - Carlson


Then in Goal; assume ....
Hellebuyck
Gibson
Demko

TEAM USA 2022 ... ha ha
 
I think the roster size is 22 skaters and three goalies. That means they can go with 14 forwards and eight d-men. I think Pavelski will likely make it. He's still very good, can play in all situations and is very good on the PP. There's going to be a lot of debate about a good number of forwards. I don't see too many as pure locks.
 
even better ... I would then go either Coleman or Miller as my 14th Forward then ... adds some more PK, speed, versatility and chippiness
 
danj7 said:
even better ... I would then go either Coleman or Miller as my 14th Forward then ... adds some more PK, speed, versatility and chippiness
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I like Coleman as a player but he doesn't belong anywhere near an Olympic team. Miller I could potentially see but he's a hot head who goes off the rails quite a bit.
 
It's gonna suck if they don't participate in the Olympics and shoehorn in a tournament in September with a "Young stars" team again, taking guys like Fox, Q. Hughes and B. Tkachuk away as options.
 
KopitarFAN said:
It's gonna suck if they don't participate in the Olympics and shoehorn in a tournament in September with a "Young stars" team again, taking guys like Fox, Q. Hughes and B. Tkachuk away as options.
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It never made sense to me when they did that in 2016.

Let's face it. The NHL would love nothing more than the USA winning a best-on-best. That would be good for hockey's popularity in the USA, and consequently, good for the NHL's economics.

Having an "North American Under-23" team hurts the USA much more than it does Canada.

Canada has the depth to compensate for losing its top young players. The USA doesn't have the same type of depth.

All that Under-23 team did in 2016 is cost the USA a chance to use Matthews, Eichel, Gaudreau, etc. on Team USA.
 
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