Would Carter Verhaeghe make Team Canada's roster today?

[amnesiac]

I think hes making a good argument.... Bound to score 40 in consecutive seasons, and scoring wingers are hard to come by.

virtual locks:

McDavid
MacKinnon
Crosby
Marner
Point
Stamkos
Stone
Marchand

Then 4 of:

Reinhart
RNH
Hyman
Tavares
Verhaeghe
Giroux
Bedard
Horvat
Barzal
Konecny
Thomas
Scheifele
Kyrou
Huberdeau

Click to read more...

 

[Dominance]

Stamkos-McDavid-Marner
Point-MacKinnon-Reinhart
Marchand-Crosby-Bedard
Barzal-Thomas-Stone

Verhaeghe’s just one among the established guys who could have a big season and force their way on like Konecny, Hyman, Scheifele, Horvat, RNH, Batherson, Suzuki, Hagel, Kyrou, Couturier, Cirelli, Dubois, etc.

Then you have to consider the young guys who seem primed to take the next step like Cozens, Dach, Vilardi, Jarvis, McTavish, Byfield, Lafreniere, Perfetti, Tippett, Johnston, Zary, Quinn, Fantilli, etc.

His chances are realistically at best ~10%.

 

[JKG33]

If we're talking about today, I feel like ROR and Couturier would be locks for that 4th line with someone like Stone. I just don't think there's enough roster space for Verswaggy unfortunately

 

[Regal]

I think he should get decent consideration considering Canada lacks in goalscorers, and he’s a guy who doesn’t need the puck a lot, unlike guys like Marner and Barzal, which doesn’t always mesh with centers like McDavid and MacKinnon. I think he should get a long look over someone like Stamkos for instance, as he’s definitely a better 5v5 scorer at this point. The biggest issue would be utility I suppose. He’s a good forechecker but nothing special defensively, and doesn’t play special team (Stamkos’ PP ability would be a point in his favour for instance). Ultimately, I think Canada would end up sticking to more “name” players to fill out the bottom half, like Couturier, ROR, Barzal, Reinhart, Scheifele, etc.

 

[LeProspector]

If we're talking about today, I feel like ROR and Couturier would be locks for that 4th line with someone like Stone. I just don't think there's enough roster space for Verswaggy unfortunately

That’s a slow ass 4th line. You’d want some speed on it I’d think.

 

[JKG33]

That’s a slow ass 4th line. You’d want some speed on it I’d think.

Slow sure but that's basically the best shutdown line you could imagine

 

[Regal]

That’s a slow ass 4th line. You’d want some speed on it I’d think.

I kind of like the idea of Marner on a shutdown line instead of Stone. He’s good defensively himself but brings some fresher legs and more offensive pop to the line, and he can be the primary pick carrier he’s used to being, which he wouldn’t be next to McDavid or MacKinnon.

 

[Kamus]

I think hes making a good argument.... Bound to score 40 in consecutive seasons, and scoring wingers are hard to come by.

virtual locks:

McDavid
MacKinnon
Crosby
Marner
Point
Stamkos
Stone
Marchand

Then 4 of:

Reinhart
RNH
Hyman
Tavares
Verhaeghe
Giroux
Bedard
Horvat
Barzal
Konecny
Thomas
Scheifele
Kyrou
Huberdeau

I hope this is a joke

 

[mistergreat]

Huberdeau? Ahahaha

 

[Angry Little Elf]

Maybe as an injury call up or reserve player

 

[Sky04]

Stamkos is not a lock, I could see CV or Bedard if Canada wants natural finisher on the team full of elite passers.

 

[pedis]

Stamkos is not a lock, I could see CV or Bedard if Canada wants natural finisher on the team full of elite passers

Would bet thousands he is a lock.

 

[Sky04]

Would bet thousands he is a lock.

If you don't pay attention to hockey sure.

 

[pedis]

If you don't pay attention to hockey sure.

I do, guy is probably the best leader in hockey

 

[Sky04]

I do, guy is probably the best leader in hockey

Lmao

 

[ScottyMascotty]

From analytics perspective, the answer is mostly "yes"

 

[PensandCaps]

I wouldn't be against it, since he is an elite 5v5 scorer.

I don't think there is a more underrated player in the league.

 

[PensandCaps]

Would bet thousands he is a lock.

Stamkos isn't even better than Verhaeghe.

 

[biturbo19]

Not a chance.

Not that he isn't a capable winger...but there are a plethora of factors working against him here.

1)Hockey Canada does still prefer to roll with guys who have rolled with them. Be that coming up through the whole World Juniors system, World Championships, etc. Verhaeghe has very precious little of that on his resume.

2)Canada has so much overflow of quality NHL Centers who can also play the Wing, giving more versatility/flexibility to the roster to play around and find chemistry. He doesn't bring that utility.

3)He doesn't have any real natural "built in" chemistry with anybody important to Team Canada. Someone like Nuge is a worse player, but probably comes out ahead in that he's got proven chemistry with McDavey if you have to fall back on that. As does Hyman especially (who also has a major advantage in other areas). Think...Chris Kunitz logic.

4)He doesn't kill penalties. If you're not one of the top few "locks" slated for the top of the roster spots...you're not going to be on the powerplay. You're not going to be in strictly offensive situations and minutes. What Canada needs out of the "bottom-6" wingers, is guys who can grind and provide energy and be effective in more limited "4th line" minutes. And above all else...Kill Penalties really well. You can only use so much offensive firepower and only a small handful of guys are going to get the time of day on the Powerplay. You'll need a bunch more guys who can actually go out and block a shot, kill a penalty, forecheck, dig up pucks, play a checking role, etc.



I just don't think there's a single compelling argument for Hockey Canada to take someone like Verhaeghe over someone like Hyman. Who would probably be a controversial addition, but one that i'd fully support.

 

[HFpapi]

From analytics perspective, the answer is mostly "yes"

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Something tells me Carter Hart won't be our starter.

On a side note: Not to derail this and make it a discussion about something else, but with the players in question surrendering themselves to police, guys like Cale Makar surely are eligible to play for Canada now, correct?

Maybe I am mistaken in the first place but I believe the entire team was suspended from playing until the investigation revealed those culpable?

 

[pedis]

Stamkos isn't even better than Verhaeghe.

Lolololololololololol

 

[PensandCaps]

Lolololololololololol

It's true.

 

[ScottyMascotty]

Lolololololololololol

Stamkos is mostly a PP specialist now.

 

[majormajor]

From analytics perspective, the answer is mostly "yes"

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If they're bringing Bouchard and Hyman - which makes some sense, I think certainly for Hyman but debatable for Bouchard - then they should bring RNH too, instead of Thomas or Barzal. The 5v5 drop off isn't huge, especially for Canada's 4C, and you get a massive advantage of keeping most of the Oilers incredible PP together. Crosby seems like he would be the best at covering Draisaitl's role? It's a unique PP setup and people don't realize how pivotal Hyman and RNH are to making it work. We've seen before that just throwing 5 great PP players together in a short tournament sometimes just leads to frustration, the familiarity is a big plus.

 

[Regal]

Not a chance.

Not that he isn't a capable winger...but there are a plethora of factors working against him here.

1)Hockey Canada does still prefer to roll with guys who have rolled with them. Be that coming up through the whole World Juniors system, World Championships, etc. Verhaeghe has very precious little of that on his resume.

2)Canada has so much overflow of quality NHL Centers who can also play the Wing, giving more versatility/flexibility to the roster to play around and find chemistry. He doesn't bring that utility.

3)He doesn't have any real natural "built in" chemistry with anybody important to Team Canada. Someone like Nuge is a worse player, but probably comes out ahead in that he's got proven chemistry with McDavey if you have to fall back on that. As does Hyman especially (who also has a major advantage in other areas). Think...Chris Kunitz logic.

4)He doesn't kill penalties. If you're not one of the top few "locks" slated for the top of the roster spots...you're not going to be on the powerplay. You're not going to be in strictly offensive situations and minutes. What Canada needs out of the "bottom-6" wingers, is guys who can grind and provide energy and be effective in more limited "4th line" minutes. And above all else...Kill Penalties really well. You can only use so much offensive firepower and only a small handful of guys are going to get the time of day on the Powerplay. You'll need a bunch more guys who can actually go out and block a shot, kill a penalty, forecheck, dig up pucks, play a checking role, etc.



I just don't think there's a single compelling argument for Hockey Canada to take someone like Verhaeghe over someone like Hyman. Who would probably be a controversial addition, but one that i'd fully support.

I think these are good points, and I think in other years that would be the end of it. Currently though, Canada is really hurting in terms of natural wingers who can finish, and Verhaghe has been one of the best 5v5 goalscorers in the league for awhile now. He brings speed and sniping ability, both of which are lacking throughout the depth of the lineup. He’s also a solid forechecker and isn’t someone who needs to have the puck on his stick to thrive. I think your point about RNH can also apply a bit to guys like say Thomas, who are better players than Verhaghe but don’t really bring anything that wouldn’t be in the lineup elsewhere, and some centers who can play wing who are also better overall players like Barzal are very puck-centric which might not mesh as well with some of the main centers on the team.

I think it really depends on how they view the offense, as you’re right, he probably wouldn’t be in a traditional bottom 6 role. But if they decide to spread out the offense a bit and not play all the best players with each other he might make sense on say an offensive oriented line next to MacKinnon.