Who Would Make a Current U.S. Roster for the Olympics?

[Nucks2001]

Every other defenseman on the team plays well with Miller except Trouba.

When Trouba is paired with someone on the team, they get worse.

Miller becomes and instantly better player the second he is away from Trouba, and it's not just with Fox.

Miller's game is only going to get better and Trouba is only going to get worse. He may have a physical side that he can bring, but when it comes to having to be on the ice against the best of the best, I'll take Miller 10/10 over Trouba.

The 4 nations team, I can see Trouba making it as the 4th RD, after that he's not making it. McAvoy, Fox, Faber, and Seth Jones should be their right shot guys.

Keep both Trouba and Seth Jones faraway from these rosters. I’d opt for Carlson of Pesce as your RHD options. Ideally tho, I think they should just take BPA instead of focusing on handedness and take Sanderson.

 

[WarriorofTime]

I wouldn't throw Jones or Trouba out of the player pool entirely just yet, even if you don't think they're likely to be selections, unless you think their presence at an evaluation camp or whatever would cause some sort of issue.

My defensemen watchlist for 2026 (55 players)

Anderson (99)
Borgen (96)
Carlo (96)
Carlson (90)
Chatfield (96)
Clifton (95)
Cole (89)
DeAngelo (95)
Dumoulin (91)
Faber (02)
Faulk (92)
Forbort (92)
Fowler (91)
Fox (98)
Goligoski (85)
Gostisbehere (93)
Grzelcyk (94)
Hanifin (97)
Harris (00)
Holl (92)
Hughes (03)
Hughes (99)
Jensen (90)
Jones (94)
Krug (91)
LaCombe (01)
Leddy (91)
Lindgren (98)
Marino (97)
Martinez (87)
Mayfield (92)
McAvoy (97)
McCabe (93)
McDonagh (89)
Miller (00)
Murphy (93)
Perbix (98)
Pesce (94)
Petry (87)
Pionk (95)
Roy (95)
Samberg (99)
Samuelsson (00)
Sanderson (02)
Schmidt (91)
Shattenkirk (89)
Skjei (94)
Slavin (94)
Struble (01)
Suter (85)
Trouba (94)
Van Riemsdyk (91)
Vlasic (01)
Werenski (97)
York (01)

 

[William H Bonney]

Jones belongs no where near the conversation but Trouba most definitely does, although he'd be competing with guys like Pesce, Carlo, Samuelsson, etc.

I'd be pretty surprised if the US brass isn't planning on taking at least one big, physical defenseman to play more of a shutdown role.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Jones belongs no where near the conversation

Probably a current B-teamer, not that old, not playing that bad, not that many seasons removed from 4 straight Top 20 Norris votes. If you're inviting 18 Defensemen to an orientation camp like they did before 2013-14 season, good chance Jones is there for that.

 

[William H Bonney]

Probably a current B-teamer, not that old, not playing that bad, not that many seasons removed from 4 straight Top 20 Norris votes. If you're inviting 18 Defensemen to an orientation camp like they did before 2013-14 season, good chance Jones is there for that.

He'd be in the conversation for a B team but not a given by any means. I doubt I'd have him on my B team. I'd easily take McAvoy, Fox, Faber, Trouba, Pesce, Carlo, Carlson, Roy, Pionk, and Faulk over him as RHD.

While he was once deserving of the accolades, we haven't seen that Jones in a few years. His game has fallen off a lot and we don't need to rely on guys who have been on a continual decline because at one point they looked like a top defenseman.

That said, I suspect he'll get far more consideration than he deserves. Being named as one of the first 3 players to the 2022 Olympic team even after his game had taken a decline is a good signal that USAH grossly overvalues him as a player. Hopefully the time since that mistake has been a wakeup call for them but I have my doubts.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Can't believe you guys have left Olympic hero Ryan Donato off your rosters.

 

[William H Bonney]

Can't believe you guys have left Olympic hero Ryan Donato off your rosters.

Ryan Lasch will be the captain

 

[Zero Pucks Given]

Ryan Lasch will be the captain

That's quite an interesting way to spell Justin Abdelkader

 

[TruePowerSlave]

A sensible person will build an absolutely stacked team with the talent the Americans have, it remains to be seen though if the so called professionals will assemble that kind of a roster. In the past they have been adamant that washed up vets make it.

 

[Nucks2001]

A sensible person will build an absolutely stacked team with the talent the Americans have, it remains to be seen though if the so called professionals will assemble that kind of a roster. In the past they have been adamant that washed up vets make it.

Very true. The American Talent pool is so deep now tho. I don’t think they can mess it up.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

A sensible person will build an absolutely stacked team with the talent the Americans have, it remains to be seen though if the so called professionals will assemble that kind of a roster. In the past they have been adamant that washed up vets make it.

Praying Burke and Poile have zero say on the roster. I'm fine with Chris Drury being the sole decision maker if that's the case.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I think we have a lot better executives right now than coaches. Coaches we only have a few decent ones.

We got like 5 decent GM's between Adams, Conroy, Waddell, MacFarland, Zito, Guerin, Gorton (not a "GM" now, but former one and has a higher role now), Fitzgerald, and Drury. We should be able to field a good core of executives to build this team.

My picks would be Zito leading it with Waddell and MacFarland as assistants.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

I like this.

 

[William H Bonney]

He was originally the 2022 Olympic team GM before the NHL backed out, so not all that surprising he was tapped again.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

He was originally the 2022 Olympic team GM before the NHL backed out, so not all that surprising he was tapped again.

Nothing new has happened since then, thank God.

 

[William H Bonney]

Nothing new has happened since then, thank God.

USAH hired John Vanbiesbrouck, Hockey Canada covered up numerous alleged sexual assaults. The bar for hockey federations is really low, so it's not surprising that it didn't change their desire for Guerin to take the reins.

 

[Northerner]

Not near enough Minnesotans on the top squad. Sad.

 

[usahockey22flyers]

Watch out for Farabee. Guy is playing out of his mind lately, playmaking has been sensational

 

[mphmiles]

I think I love the idea of a Vlasic-Fox pairing 2 years down the line.

 

[majormajor]

If it was today:

M Tkachuk - Matthews - J Hughes
Connor - Eichel - B Tkachuk
Keller - Miller - Robertson
Kreider - Larkin - Tuch
Boldy
Trocheck

Q Hughes - McAvoy
Werenski - Fox
Slavin - Faber
Sanderson - S Jones

Hellebuyck
Demko
Swayman

Obviously loaded, but I think one weakness is the number of one way forwards. The whole middle six here, plus J Hughes, is weak defensively, possibly with the exception of Jack Eichel. When Jack Eichel is your defensive stalwart then you might have trouble. Thankfully for the States, Matthews is great defensively and the coach can lean hard on the 4th line here, which is heavy, strong defensively, and crazy fast. Boldy and Trocheck can also come in for stronger two-way play.

After thinking it through, I might swap Miller and Keller for Trocheck and Boldy.

 

[William H Bonney]

Jack Eichel is not even close to being weak defensively.

 

[Northerner]

Don't know if it's the best American team/era ever, but when your team is so stacked you're leaving guys like Boldy, Thompson, and all stars like Debrincat behind, among MANY more (Kane, Lee, Nelson and on you can go....), you're absolutely stacked as hell with depth.

Honestly America could realistically bring two teams good enough to win Gold in two years. Don't think the nation has ever had that kind of depth before.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Don't know if it's the best American team/era ever, but when your team is so stacked you're leaving guys like Boldy, Thompson, and all stars like Debrincat behind, among MANY more (Kane, Lee, Nelson and on you can go....), you're absolutely stacked as hell with depth.

Honestly America could realistically bring two teams good enough to win Gold in two years. Don't think the nation has ever had that kind of depth before.

only Canada has

 

[MNRube]

M.Tkachuk - Hughes - Robertson
B.Tkachuk - Matthews - Miller
Connor - Eichel - Boldy
Beniers - Larkin - Tuch
(Keller)

Q.Hughes - McAvoy
Slavin - Faber
Sanderson - Fox
(Werenski)

-Beniers, Larkin and Tuch are an energy/shutdown line. Beniers' offense has dried up, but his defensive metrics have jumped big time. You need a few low-ego workers anyways.

-Boldy offers more size and versatility than a Caufield, Boeser etc.

-Slavin - Faber is the shutdown pair.

-Keller comes in if you need a bit more offense or one of the top 3 lines lacks chemistry.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Hey

If it was today:

M Tkachuk - Matthews - J Hughes
Connor - Eichel - B Tkachuk
Keller - Miller - Robertson
Kreider - Larkin - Tuch
Boldy
Trocheck

Q Hughes - McAvoy
Werenski - Fox
Slavin - Faber
Sanderson - S Jones

Hellebuyck
Demko
Swayman

Obviously loaded, but I think one weakness is the number of one way forwards. The whole middle six here, plus J Hughes, is weak defensively, possibly with the exception of Jack Eichel. When Jack Eichel is your defensive stalwart then you might have trouble. Thankfully for the States, Matthews is great defensively and the coach can lean hard on the 4th line here, which is heavy, strong defensively, and crazy fast. Boldy and Trocheck can also come in for stronger two-way play.

After thinking it through, I might swap Miller and Keller for Trocheck and Boldy.

Hey Bill...