2024 World Cup roster projection: Canada – Daily Faceoff

One of these years, all fantasies will come true. We imagined the 2018 Olympic rosters to see the NHL move away from Pyeongchang. We had the 2022 Olympic rosters in mind for Beijing, but COVID-19 concerns caused the league to pull out of the Winter Games again. Will the World Cup of Hockey, scheduled for 2024, actually take place, giving us the closest thing to a true men’s hockey tournament between the best since the Sochi Games in 2014?

The NHL, NHL Players’ Association and IIHF continue to work toward that goal, even though NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman recently admitted it’s getting late and other recent reports have indicated that the tournament could be delayed. Assuming the negotiations are successful and we get a 17-day World Cup tournament in the winter of 2024…why not start the first screenings of the roster? It’s all for fun, isn’t it?

While the tournament field is yet to be determined, we have a rough idea of which nations will make up the bulk of the eight-team field. The No. 8 team will be determined by a play-in, and Russian participation remains highly up in the air due to the dispute with Ukraine.

But we can safely start with Canada, a team guaranteed to participate and, let’s be honest, the lightning rod for more debate than other nations will generate together. Each projected roster includes 20 skaters and three goaltenders.

FORWARDS – Matt Larkin’s Picks

Jonathan Huberdeau	Connor McDavid	Nathan MacKinnon
Steven Stamkos	Brayden Point	Mitch Marmer
Brad Merchant	Sidney Crosby	Drake Batherson
Ryan O’Reilly	thomas robert	mark the stone
	Mathieu Barzal

More than other powerhouse nations, Canada has recently opted for line chemistry over pure talent in hopes of creating a more cohesive squad. It was the mentality that brought Chris Kunitz to the Sochi 2014 squad and even Brad Marchand to the 2016 World Cup squad. before he had erupted as an offensive superstar. So I factored chemistry into the decisions here.

Yes, I use two centers on one line, deploying Nathan MacKinnon as a finisher alongside Jonathan Huberdeau and Connor McDavid. MacKinnon is tickled by the idea of playing with McDavid. He said it during the NHL Player Media Tour in September.

The second row has some team chemistry between Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point. Stamkos is the obvious trigger here, playing his flippant wing, with Point the Two-Way Awareness, so we need a distributor to complement them. This is where Marner comes in.

The Marchand-Crosby pair are easy to maintain on the third line given their wonderful chemistry at the 2016 World Cup. Gone is their right winger, Patrice Bergeron, who I plan to retire in the summer of 2023. I want to keep that fiery, physical line, so I’m digressing a bit from the board with the big and talented Drake Batherson here. He has dual Canadian-American citizenship, but has always represented Canada in international tournaments.

The fourth line will be in charge of the stop service, so I want the group to be smart. Mark Stone was an easy choice. Guess Doug Armstrong is returning to his job as GM of Canada so I have a pair of Blues here in O’Reilly and Thomas, although O’Reilly is a UFA pending and could play elsewhere in 2024. I like the intelligence that Thomas brings to this line. I might be convinced to bang O’Reilly for some cooler footwork like Nick Suzuki did.

Also considered: Nick Suzuki, Patrice Bergeron, John Tavares, Jordan Kyrou, Mark Scheifele, Nazem Kadri, Evander Kane, Connor Bedard, Anthony Cirelli

FORWARDS – Frank Seravalli’s picks

Jonathan Huberdeau	Connor McDavid	Nathan MacKinnon
Nazem Kadri	Brayden Point	Steven Stamkos
Brad Merchant	Sidney Crosby	Patrice Bergeron
Ryan O’Reilly	thomas robert	Antoine Cirelli
	John Tavares

We ended up with nine of the same forwards, but I think we did it a bit differently. Matt was maybe a bit more focused on chemistry and form, which is always an important consideration for any management team, but I tried to tick a few more boxes when it came to style of play. For this exercise, I relied heavily on the findings of our recent Daily face-to-face Classification of archetypes project.

One of the best parts of the Archetype project is the team building feature – ideally you’d want to tick a lot of boxes. All four Canadian-born franchise players are part of the project. There are four Clutch players (Patrice Bergeron, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Ryan O’Reilly). There are two elite distributors (Jonathan Huberdeau and Robert Thomas) to accompany a pure Shooter (Steven Stamkos) and the second-best Net-Front Scorer (John Tavares) in the league. Plus, the all-important mix of Power Forwards (Brad Marchand and Jordan Kyrou). If Doug Armstrong is the general manager of Team Canada again, then Kyrou and Thomas are pretty safe bets, as he’s seen them up close and is clearly a big supporter of their contracts. It pained me to leave out Evander Kane and Tom Wilson in these discussions, but Wilson will also have something to prove after his ACL tear.

Also considered: Jordan Kyrou, Tom Wilson, Nick Suzuki, Andrew Mangiapane, Evander Kane

DEFENDERS – Matt Larkin’s Picks

Devon Toews	Cale Makar
MacKenzie Weegar	Aaron Ekblad
Shea Theodore	Alex Pietrangelo
Nurse Darnell

Just a few years ago, when people like me were planning an Olympic roster for 2022, there was talk of Canada’s blue line looking a little thin. Things change quickly. Canada has depth, talent, versatility and, most importantly, chemistry in my fictional roster.

We retain the Stanley Cup-winning pair of Devon Toews and Cale Makar, who epitomize what it means to be modern-day game drivers.

The second pair features the former Florida couple of good friends MacKenzie Weegar and Aaron Ekblad. They’re both right-handed, yes, but Weegar is capable of playing both sides and often played on the left side as Panther on a pair of dynamite with Ekblad. Opponents will be reluctant to smash Canada’s net with these two.

The third pair is a safe and highly mobile transfer from Vegas of Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo, although they are not usually on the same pair with the Golden Knights. If Canada needs a sudden injection of energy and rumble, Darnell Nurse is waiting.

Also considered: Noah Dobson, Kris Letang, Morgan Rielly

DEFENDERS – Frank Seravalli’s picks

Shea Theodore	Cale Makar
Devon Toews	Aaron Ekblad
Thomas Chabot	MacKenzie Weegar
Owen Power

Almost 18 months after this tournament, some of that is pure projection when you see a player like Owen Power break through the roster. Power hasn’t quite scratched the surface of his NHL-level abilities yet and I expect the 2021 No. 1 pick to blossom quickly skating on the same blue line as compatriot Rasmus. Dahlin in Buffalo. In a small sample in Calgary, MacKenzie Weegar seems to have answered the question of whether or not he can be a star outside of Ekblad’s shadow – and if so, they can be reunited again. The versatility factor allowing Weegar to be able to play either side is also a huge bonus.

The focus in building my Team Canada roster was on efficient puck movement. Who are the seven or eight best defenders in the world to get your team out of trouble? Brent Burns was hard to leave off the list as he shows Carolina that he might be as good as he has been. Will it be the same in 16 months? And what about Alex Pietrangelo’s game as he continues to age in Vegas? That Pietrangelo was one of the first three official selections for Team Canada last time out could make that projection insane.

Also considered: Brent Burns, Alex Pietrangelo, Morgan Rielly, Josh Morrissey, Bowen Byram, Ryan Graves

GOALKEEPERS – Matt Larkin’s picks

Tristan Jarry

Darcy Kuemper

Marc-Andre Fleury

If you recall, Canada had six different goaltenders on its Olympic watch list last year. That’s how shifting the position is, and it’s arguably the closest Canada has to a weakness if you compare its netminders to the embarrassment of riches in the United States or Russia.

I have Tristan Jarry, Marc-André Fleury and Darcy Kuemper as a line, but they could easily be replaced by Jordan Binnington or Carter Hart depending on how the next year and a half unfolds in the NHL. Given that Fleury will be 39 when this tournament takes place, he will most likely be a third man and a cheerleader. Carey Price says he still hopes to play again, and if he’s healthy a year from now he’ll have a long look, although it would be overkill even for a healthy Price to want to push his body to through a tournament in the middle. of the NHL schedule.

Also considered: Jordan Binnington, Carter Hart, Carey Price

GOALKEEPERS – Frank Seravalli’s picks

Tristan Jarry

Carter Hart

Stuart Skinner

Surprise! Stuart Skinner is off to a great start in Edmonton and could earn some playing time away from Jack Campbell in no time. Maybe there is a recency bias in this selection, but I think his game will only grow. Matt and I agree on Jarry as the lead contender, but something about Kuemper’s Stanley Cup playoff game (injury may have had an impact?) didn’t leave me feeling comfortable enough. to choose it.

Also considered: Darcy Kuemper, Logan Thompson, Jordan Binnington, Marc-André Fleury