World Cup of Hockey: Preliminary Rosters Revealed – Predictions Review

World Cup of Hockey: 16-Player Rosters Revealed

Preliminary rosters were announced for September’s World Cup of Hockey, to be held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

Wednesday, March 2nd marked the first of two roster deadlines. Teams involved named 16 players today (minimum two goaltenders), and will be required to name the final 23-man roster on June 1st, 2016.

The tournament will be held in September 2016, and is a group effort with the NHL and NHLPA, in association with International Ice Hockey Federation. The rules differ from that of IIHF held tournaments, and will follow NHL rules, with games being played on NHL-sized ice surfaces.

2016 NHL World Cup of Hockey – Rosters and Groupings

23 players, 20 skaters, 3 goalies

Group A: Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Europe, Team USA
Group B: Team Finland, Team North America, Team Russia, Team Sweden

2nd Roster Deadline: Remaining roster no later than June, 1st, 2016

via NHL.com,

“The players for Team North America will be selected from a pool of the best young hockey players from Canada and the United States. Those players must be 23 or under as of Oct. 1, 2016 (i.e., must have a date of birth on or after Oct. 2, 1992) and will be available for selection exclusively by Team North America.”

“Team Europe will be comprised of a pan-European roster of players from birth countries outside of the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden – in short, all of the other European countries who are developing world-class hockey players in ever-increasing numbers. Countries such as Austria, Belarus, Denmark, France, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland (among others) will all be eligible for representation on Team Europe.”

Team Russia

Goalies:
Sergei Bobrovsky CLB, Semyon Varlamov COL, Andrei Vasilevskiy TB

Defense:
Dmitry Kulikov FLA, Andrei Markov MON, Dmitry Orlov WSH

Forwards:
Artem Anisimov CHI, Pavel Datsyuk DET, Nikita Kucherov TB, Nikolay Kulemin NYI, Evgeny Kuznetsov WSH, Evgeni Malkin PIT, Vladislav Namestnikov TB, Alex Ovechkin WSH, Artemi Panarin CHI, Vladimir Tarasenko STL

16-Man Prediction (March 1st):

Goalies – 3/3
Defense – 2/4
Forwards – 7/9

23-Man Prediction (February 9th):

Goalies – 3/3
Defense – 3/3
Forwards – 9/10

The only player named on Wednesday that we left off the final 23-man roster was Nikolay Kulemin, who we had originally named back in late 2015 in our first prediction.

Battling for those last three spots on defense is Fedor Tyutin, Evgeny Medvedev, Nikita Nesterov, Alexey Marchenko, Alexei Emelin, Nikita Zadarov, among a few others.

Numerous players will battle for Russia’s last three forward spots, including, Valeri Nichushkin, Nail Yakupov, Alex Burmistrov, Alex Radulov, Ilya Kovalchuk, Mikhail Grigorenko, Sergei Plotnikov, plus several other KHL and NHL players.

More puck prose: Team Russia 16-Man Prediction

Team Finland

Goalies:
Tuukka Rask BOS, Pekka Rinne NSH

Defense:
Olli Maatta PIT, Rasmus Ristolainen BUF, Sami Vatanen ANA, Esa Lindell DAL

Forwards:
Mikko Koivu MIN, Jori Lehtera STL, Aleksander Barkov FLA, Mikael Granlund MIN, Jussi Jokinen FLA, Valtteri Filppula TB, Leo Komarov TOR, Joonas Donskoi SJ, Lauri Korpikoski EDM, Teuvo Teravainen CHI

16-Man Prediction (March 1st):

Goalies – 2/3 (only two named)
Defense – 3/4
Forwards – 9/10 (nine predicted, 10 named)

23-Man Prediction (February 9th):

Goalies – 2/2
Defense – 4/4
Forwards – 9/10

Finland only named two goalies when they could have named all three. Battling for that last slot is Kari Lehtonen, Antti Raanta and Karri Ramo, but they’ll be hard pressed to beat out Antti Niemi.

Figuring out the first four or five Finnish blueliners was the easy part, its getting it to seven that should prove to be the difficult part. Battling for the last spots on the back-end is Sami Lepisto, Julius Honka, Jyrki Jokipakka, Rasmus Rissanen, Ville Pokka, Petteri Lindbohm, among a few other NHLers and several European skaters.

Nothing overly surprising with the 10 forwards named. Lauri Korpikoski was on our short list for honorable mentions, and likely gets the nod due to past International success. Battling for the last three spots: Mikko Rantanen, Jesse Puljujarvi, Patrik Laine, Sebastian Aho, Erik Haula, Teemu Pulkkinen, Irko Pakarinen, Joel Armia, Tuomo Ruutu, Kasperi Kapanen, with several other NHL and European skaters in the mix.

More puck prose: Team Finland 16-Man Prediction

Team Czech Republic

Goalies:
Petr Mrazek DET, Michal Neuvirth WSH, Ondrej Pavelec WPG

Defense:
Radko Gudas PHI, Michal Kempny KHL, Roman Polak SJ, Andrej Sustr TB

Forwards:
Michael Frolik CGY, Martin Hanzal ARZ, Tomas Hertl SJ, David Krejci BOS, Ondrej Palat TB, David Pastrnak BOS, Tomas Plekanec MON, Vladimir Sobotka KHL, Jakub Voracek PHI

16-Man Prediction (March 1st):

Goalies – 3/3
Defense – 2/4
Forwards – 7/9

23-Man Prediction (February 9th):

Goalies – 3/3
Defense – 3/4
Forwards – 8/9

When Marek Mazenec is the next best goalie to third ranked Ondrej Pavelec, it’s fairly simple to name the netminders.

One surprise on the blueline is a bit of an unknown, unless you follow the KHL closely. 25-year-old Michal Kempny is a KHL rookie playing for Avangard Omsk in 2015-16. He has 21 points in 59 games with a plus-18 (+18). Kempny spent the last six years playing in the Czech Mens League. Battling for the last three spots on the blueline: Marek Zidlicky, Michal Rozsival, Michal Jordan, Jakub Nakladal, among several European skaters with past International success.

The only player named on Wednesday that didn’t make our 23-man roster was KHL’s Vladimir Sobotka. He was part of our short list based on past success in the NHL and on the International stage – he’s also dominating the KHL. Little argument for his inclusion. Forwards looking to snag one of those final four roster slots include, Ales Hemsky, Radim Vrbata, Tomas Fleischmann, Milan Michalek, Andrej Nestrasil, Dmitrij Jaskin, Jiri Sekac, Radek Faksa, Patrik Elias (if not retired), Jiri Tlusty, Roman Cervenka, Jiri Novotny, Dominik Simon, Jan Kovar, and Martin Havlat.

More puck prose: Team Czech Republic 16-Man Prediction

Team Sweden

Goalies:
Henrik Lundqvist NYR, Jacob Markstrom VAN

Defense:
Oliver Ekman-Larsson ARZ, Victor Hedman TB, Niklas Hjalmarsson CHI, Erik Karlsson OTT, Niklas Kronwall DET, Anton Stralman TB

Forwards:
Nicklas Backstrom WSH, Loui Eriksson BOS, Filip Forsberg NSH, Gabriel Landeskog COL, Daniel Sedin VAN, Henrik Sedin VAN, Alex Steen STL, Henrik Zetterberg DET

16-Man Prediction (March 1st):

Goalies – 1/3 (only two named)
Defense – 5/6
Forwards – 7/8 (seven predicted, eight named)

23-Man Prediction (February 9th):

Goalies – 1/2
Defense – 5/6
Forwards – 8/8

Markstrom’s inclusion as one of two goalies named Wednesday is a slight surprise. They could have named Henrik Lundqvist and Robin Lehner, allowing Jacob Markstrom, Eddie Lack, Jhonas Enroth, Linus Ullmark, and Jonas Gustavsson to battle for that last spot. Lehner seems the obvious selection for the last spot.

Somehow slipping through our grasp, we forgot about Chicago’s Niklas Hjalmarsson. There’s perhaps no defenseman more underrated hidden behind a strong cast of players such as Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, and Artemi Panarin. A complete blueliner, Hjalmarsson is the right selection for Sweden. With an abundance of d-man to choose from, Anton Stralman also fell short of our 23-man roster, landing on the short list for honorable mentions. Sweden has one spot left for one of the following players: John Klingberg, Adam Larsson, Oscar Klefbom, Hampus Lindholm, Alex Edler, Johnny Oduya, Jonas Brodin, Klas Dahlbeck, and Mattias Ekholm, among a few others.

No surprises with this forward group, but there are still five spots remaining. Among those battling: Mika Zibanejad, Marcus Johansson, Andre Burakovsky, Alex Wennberg, Jakob Silfverberg, Patric Hornqvist, Oscar Lindberg, Calle Jarnkrok, Elias Lindholm, Carl Soderberg, Carl Hagelin, Mikael Backlund, Mattias Janmark, Marcus Kruger, Rickard Rakell, among other NHL and International options.

More puck prose: Team Sweden 16-Man Prediction

Team Europe

Goalies:
Frederik Andersen ANA, Jaroslav Halak NYI

Defense:
Zdeno Chara BOS, Roman Josi NSH, Dennis Seidenberg BOS, Andrej Sekera EDM, Mark Streit PHI

Forwards:
Mikkel Boedker COL, Leon Draisaitl EDM, Jannik Hansen VAN, F Marian Hossa CHI, Anze Kopitar LA, Frans Nielsen NYI, Tomas Tatar DET, Thomas Vanek MIN, Mats Zuccarello NYR

16-Man Prediction (March 1st):

Goalies – 2/2
Defense – 5/5
Forwards – 6/8

23-Man Prediction (February 9th):

Goalies – 2/2
Defense – 5/5
Forwards – 8/9

Only a few goalies are in consideration for that last spot in the crease. Among them is Reto Berra, Jonas Hiller, and Thomas Greiss. Halak and Andersen are the main guys, leaning to the hot hand in all likelihood. The last guy is there in case someone gets injured.

Beyond the top five blueliners, there’s a serious drop-off in talent. Battling for the last two defensive positions: Luca Sbisa, Christian Ehrhoff, Yannick Weber, and Martin Marincin.

Every forward named on Wednesday deserved the nod. There’s still a decent group of forwards battling for the last four slots, including, Nino Niederreiter, Michael Grabner, Antoine Roussel, Tobias Reider, Nikolaj Ehlers, Lars Eller, Zemgus Girgensons, Marko Dano, Tomas Jurco, Mikhal Grabovski, and Kevin Fiala. It’s worth noting we had Jannik Hansen on the short list of honorable mentions.

More puck prose: Team Europe 16-Man Prediction

Team North America

Goalies:
John Gibson ANA, Connor Hellebuyck WPG, Matt Murray PIT

Defense:
Aaron Ekblad FLA, Seth Jones CLB, Morgan Rielly TOR, Ryan Murray CLB

Forwards:
Sean Couturier PHI, Jack Eichel BUF, Johnny Gaudreau CGY, Dylan Larkin DET, Nathan MacKinnon COL, Connor McDavid EDM, J.T. Miller NYR, Sean Monahan CGY, Brandon Saad CLB

16-Man Prediction (March 1st):

Goalies – 2/3 (two predicted, three named)
Defense – 3/4
Forwards – 7/9

23-Man Prediction (February 9th):

Goalies – 3/3
Defense – 3/4
Forwards – 7/9

The three goalies named became more obvious once Matt Murray was given NHL experience in 2015-16. Both Gibson and Hellebuyck own past International success, and should prove to make Team North America extremely competitive.

Not included in our most recent 23-man roster or 16-man prediction was Ryan Murray. He was selected in our first release in late 2015, but made his way to honorable mentions amidst a talented group of young blueliners. Looking to crack one of the last three spots: Dougie Hamilton, Jacob Trouba, Shayne Gostisbehere, Noah Hanifin, Colin Miller, Nathan Beaulieu, Ben Hutton, Cody Ceci, Matt Dumba, Damon Severson, Connor Murphy, Colton Parayko, Derrick Pouliot, and Jaccob Slavin.

Sean Couturier is one of those guys we had on the outside looking in. Little argument with his inclusion based on his defensive play. A bit of a surprise with J.T. Miller – it feels as though he’s being rewarded for his 2015-16 play, disregarding his previous seasons. If that’s the case, how is Gostisbehere not part of the 16-man? With four spots remaining, several talented young stars are worthy: Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, Sam Bennett, Jonathan Huberdeau, Sam Reinhart, Boone Jenner, Auston Matthews, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Alex Galchenyuk, Mark Scheifele, Ryan Strome, Vincent Trocheck, Bo Horvat, and Robby Fabbri among several other candidates.

More puck prose: Team North America 16-Man Prediction

Team Canada

Goalies:
Corey Crawford CHI, Braden Holtby WSH, Carey Price MON

Defense:
Drew Doughty LA, Duncan Kieth CHI, Marc-Edouard Vlasic SJ, Shea Weber NSH

Forwards:
Sidney Crosby PIT, Jamie Benn DAL, Patrice Bergeron BOS, Jeff Carter LA, Ryan Getzlaf ANA, Steven Stamkos TB, Jonathan Toews CHI, John Tavares NYI, Tyler Seguin DAL

16-Man Prediction (March 1st):

Goalies – 2/3 (two predicted, three named)
Defense – 3/5 (five predicted, four named)
Forwards – 7/9

23-Man Prediction (February 9th):

Goalies – 2/3
Defense – 3/4
Forwards – 8/9

In a surprise, Canada named all three goalies on Wednesday. There was a handful of debate for the third spot, but it sounds as though Roberto Luongo will be the first call if one Holtby, Price, or Crawford gets injured.

Naming Marc-Edouard Vlasic to the 23-man roster isn’t overly shocking. Much like Drew Doughty, fans don’t get to see enough of Vlasic out West to understand how good a defensemen he is. He’ got past International success with Canada to deem his spot worthy, although it’s surprising to see him named as part of the initial 16-man roster. Battling for the remaining three spots: P.K. Subban, Brent Burns SJ, Mark Giordano, Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, Kris Letang, and T.J. Brodie.

Now, time to point out the elephant in the room. There’s no way Jeff Carter is worthy of the 23-man roster, let alone the 16-man roster. It’s nothing personal, he’s a great player. But he’s not in the same conversation as the other guys listed. He has past International success, but his game has been on a steady decline over recent years. There are much more deserving players of his spot. Regardless, the following will fight for the last four slots: Claude Giroux, Corey Perry, Eric Staal, Taylor Hall, Rick Nash, Mark Stone, Ryan O’Reilly, Jarome Iginla, Jason Spezza, Brad Marchand, Brendan Gallagher, Andrew Ladd, Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Matt Duchene, Jaden Schwartz, the list goes on.

More puck prose: Team Canada 16-Man Prediction

Team USA

Goalies:
Ben Bishop TB, Jonathan Quick LA, Cory Schneider

Defense:
Dustin Byfuglien WPG, John Carlson WSH, Ryan Mcdonagh NYR, Ryan Suter MIN

Forwards:
Justin Abdelkader DET, Patrick Kane CHI, Ryan Kesler ANA, T.J. Oshie WSH, Max Pacioretty MON, Zach Parise MIN, Joe Pavelski SJ, Derek Stepan NYR, Blake Wheeler WPG

16-Man Prediction (March 1st):

Goalies – 3/3
Defense – 4/6 (six predicted, four named)
Forwards – 3/9

23-Man Prediction (February 9th):

Goalies – 3/3
Defense – 3/4
Forwards – 6/9

More puck prose: Team USA 16-Man Prediction

As mentioned last night, this was the easiest goaltending situation to determine. The Americans walk into the World Cup alongside the Canadians will three elite netminders.

This is an example of the depth we spoke about in our 16-man predictions. Selecting those first four or five blueliners isn’t difficult – it’s determining the final two. Fighting for those three open spots: Kevin Shattenkirk, Justin Faulk, Torey Krug, Erik Johnson, Andy Greene, Cam Fowler, Nick Leddy, Jake Gardiner, Jeff Petry, Jack Johnson, Alec Martinez, Matt Niskanen, Keith Yandle, Matt Hunwick, Alex Goligoski, and Brooks Orpik – several more to choose from.

Well our predictions were virtually spot-on until the final roster was announced. The American forward group presented us with a few minor surprises. For the names we missed, all but one were on our radar in honorable mentions – Justin Abdelkader. Apparently he’s being rewarded for his last 18 months of play – it’s not to say he isn’t deserving, but Abdelkader over Kessel, honestly?

Next: World Cup of Hockey: Preview, Projected Rosters

Moving forward, roughly 15-20 players do battle for the final four spots: Phil Kessel, James van Riemsdyk, David Backes, Paul Stastny, Tyler Johnson, Bobby Ryan, Kyle Palmieri, Dustin Brown, Nick Bjugstad, Charlie Coyle, Anders Lee, Colin Wilson, Nick Foligno, Brandon Dubinsky, Kyle Okposo, Cam Atkinson, Jason Pominville, Ryan Kesler, and Ryan Callahan. Good luck picking the final players for this one.