2022 Team Canada Thread

[Kin]

The two questions I always wrestle with for Team Canada at these things are "Do you care about positions? Or do you just take the strongest group of Forwards?" and "Do you ever reach a point where you say the team has enough scoring and look more towards role players".

For the first one I'm always torn. I feel like caring about the winger/centre split always results in bringing a markedly worse team on paper but I can't deny that it's frequently some of the guys who might not make the team if they weren't wingers who make some of the biggest contributions.

The second one I feel more definitive about. Once you feel like you have a decent penalty killing group I think you take as much firepower as you can.

 

[Kin]

You could make an old team and a young team out of Canada's candidate pool
This is by no means comprehensive

Up to 2009 draft
Marchand - Crosby - Bergeron
Kadri - Tavares - Stamkos
Toews - O'Reilly - Giroux
N. Foligno - Couture - Cizikas

Giordano - Pietrangelo
McDonagh - Ellis
Suter - Weber
Letang, Spurgeon

Price
Bernier


Babies
Dubois - McDavid - Marner
Huberdeau - MacKinnon - Scheifele
Cirelli - Couturier - Stone
Tofolli - Danault - Gallagher


Hughes - Makar
Theodore - Hamilton
Rielly - Parayko
Toews, Ekblad

Binnington
Hart

You have a bunch of filthy Americans on our team.

 

[herman]

You have a bunch of filthy Americans on our team.

Oh dang

I think I fixed it a bit

 

[L K]

You could make an old team and a young team out of Canada's candidate pool
This is by no means comprehensive

Up to 2009 draft
Marchand - Crosby - Bergeron
Kadri - Tavares - Stamkos
Toews - O'Reilly - Giroux
N. Foligno - Couture - Cizikas

Giordano - Pietrangelo
McDonagh Letang - Ellis
Suter Doughty - Weber
Spurgeon
Burns

Price
Bernier


Babies
Dubois - McDavid - Marner
Huberdeau - MacKinnon - Scheifele
Cirelli - Couturier - Stone
Tofolli - Danault - Gallagher


Hughes - Makar
Theodore - Hamilton
Rielly - Parayko
Toews, Ekblad

Binnington
Hart

Could probably throw candidates like Chabot, Girard on the young defense.  Barzal probably has to fit in, maybe over Toffoli?

 

[herman]

Could probably throw candidates like Chabot, Girard on the young defense.  Barzal probably has to fit in, maybe over Toffoli?

Oh yeah, Barzal... hmm, I'd probably just leave him as an extra for now, but Toffoli would be the prime sub

 

[CarltonTheBear]

The two questions I always wrestle with for Team Canada at these things are "Do you care about positions? Or do you just take the strongest group of Forwards?" and "Do you ever reach a point where you say the team has enough scoring and look more towards role players".

For the first one I'm always torn. I feel like caring about the winger/centre split always results in bringing a markedly worse team on paper but I can't deny that it's frequently some of the guys who might not make the team if they weren't wingers who make some of the biggest contributions.

I think you basically have to ignore positions but handedness still comes into play. Canada has like 8-12 legitimate top line centres who can make the team and you obviously can't cut them off at 4 or 5. I think generally speaking the last few Olympic teams have done a really good job at moving centres to wing.

The second one I feel more definitive about. Once you feel like you have a decent penalty killing group I think you take as much firepower as you can.

The thing about this though is that this generations Olympic "role players" candidates are all top line NHL forwards too. Bergeron, Stone, O'Reilly, Couturier, Horvat, Cirelli, Toews. It's not like we're picking Rob Zamuner/Kris Draper equivalents like Hyman to play on the PK.

For me I chose Mark Stone to fill a "role player" type spot on the roster over more offensive type guys like Hall and Seguin (both of whom would easily make any other Olympic team), but I mean at the same time Stone outscored them both last season so it's not like he's just there for one reason.

 

[Kin]

I think you basically have to ignore positions but handedness still comes into play. Canada has like 8-12 legitimate top line centres who can make the team and you obviously can't cut them off at 4 or 5. I think generally speaking the last few Olympic teams have done a really good job at moving centres to wing.

I agree. Like you though I do think you need to pay at least some attention to issues of fit/chemistry just because I think that's paid some really high dividends in the past.

The thing about this though is that this generations Olympic "role players" candidates are all top line NHL forwards too. Bergeron, Stone, O'Reilly, Couturier, Horvat, Cirelli, Toews. It's not like we're picking Rob Zamuner/Kris Draper equivalents like Hyman to play on the PK.

For me I chose Mark Stone to fill a "role player" type spot on the roster over more offensive type guys like Hall and Seguin (both of whom would easily make any other Olympic team), but I mean at the same time Stone outscored them both last season so it's not like he's just there for one reason.

I don't necessarily disagree and like you say all of these guys are terrific players who would be a good fit on just about any team. It really is hard to go wrong.

That said I do think there's a flipside to what you're saying about these good defensive guys being talented offensively too and that's that in a short tournament, with good coaching, we've seen some really exceptional defensive performances from players we don't think of that way in the NHL when put on a 3rd/4th line. I think sometimes we forget just how talented these guys are and how they can make adjustments to their game to fit in with a gameplan.

Sure there are guys who are just outright bad defensively but those guys tend not to make these teams. So, just as a for instance for me, I'd lean Tavares over someone like O'Reilly and be more confident that Tavares can be defensively responsible than I would that O'Reilly can be dynamic offensively.

 

[Kin]

Of course, all of that being said:

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/30824544/rights-groups-call-boycott-2022-beijing-olympics

 

[Peter D.]

Right now, my roster would look something like:

Mackinnon-McDavid-Marner
Marchand-Crosby-Point
Hall-Tavares-Seguin
Scheifele-Bergeron-Couturier
Stamkos

Theodore-Pietrangelo
Giordano-Makar
Doughty-Weber
Parayko

Price
Hart
Binnington

Or something like that anyway. Would like to see some LHD emerge to challenge for a spot.

Without delving too much into it right now, the only thing for me that sticks out is Giordano.  I just don't see the need for a 38-year old Giordano.  He's the one guy I'd replace with Rielly.  Sam Girard or Darnell Nurse might be decent options as replacements, but they don't scream Olympian (using CtB's term).

Huberdeau, Stone and Barzal all look like legitimate candidates as well.  Who to take out?  Argument can be made they could replace Hall, Seguin, Couturier and Stamkos. 

Price has the #1 spot as a stranglehold, but just want to say that I absolutely love Carter Hart.

 

[Kin]

Without delving too much into it right now, the only thing for me that sticks out is Giordano.  I just don't see the need for a 38-year old Giordano.  He's the one guy I'd replace with Rielly.  Sam Girard or Darnell Nurse might be decent options as replacements, but they don't scream Olympian (using CtB's term).

That's fair. He's probably the biggest stretch. I really struggle with the balance of it if you put Rielly in his place, I don't love the PK depth in case of an injury in-game, but it's not the biggest deal.

Huberdeau, Stone and Barzal all look like legitimate candidates as well.  Who to take out?  Argument can be made they could replace Hall, Seguin, Couturier and Stamkos.

Huberdeau, yeah. I think if I had to re-do it I'd put him on the team over Hall. 

Barzal over Couturier I think doesn't make much sense. Over the last three years Couturier has scored 211 points and won a Selke(and finished top 10 in voting the other two years). Barzal has 207 points with significantly fewer goals, obviously not as good a defender and significantly worse in face-offs.

Honestly, Barzal's not really on my radar. There are some guys nobody has talked about(Schenn, Couture, Monahan) who I'd probably put above him.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

The two questions I always wrestle with for Team Canada at these things are "Do you care about positions? Or do you just take the strongest group of Forwards?" and "Do you ever reach a point where you say the team has enough scoring and look more towards role players".

For the first one I'm always torn. I feel like caring about the winger/centre split always results in bringing a markedly worse team on paper but I can't deny that it's frequently some of the guys who might not make the team if they weren't wingers who make some of the biggest contributions.

I think you basically have to ignore positions but handedness still comes into play. Canada has like 8-12 legitimate top line centres who can make the team and you obviously can't cut them off at 4 or 5. I think generally speaking the last few Olympic teams have done a really good job at moving centres to wing.

I think handedness only comes into play for me on defense. Forwards don't skate lanes anymore. Forwards are all over the ice after the face off.

 

[Peter D.]

Huberdeau, yeah. I think if I had to re-do it I'd put him on the team over Hall. 

Barzal over Couturier I think doesn't make much sense. Over the last three years Couturier has scored 211 points and won a Selke(and finished top 10 in voting the other two years). Barzal has 207 points with significantly fewer goals, obviously not as good a defender and significantly worse in face-offs.

Honestly, Barzal's not really on my radar. There are some guys nobody has talked about(Schenn, Couture, Monahan) who I'd probably put above him.

Yeah.  Each will have varying opinions on which players should occupy and round out the roster.  I'm particularly bullish on Barzal as a whole, so I'd have him higher up on my list than others like you would.  But, at that point, it's splitting semantics when you have that many options including those other guys you mentioned. 

As long as it's not like a Zamuner-esque addition such as Tyler Bertuzzi or something to muck things up, you really can't go wrong with all the players at the country's disposal.

 

[Bullfrog]

I'm having a hard time not having Mark Stone on there. not sure who comes out though.

And for some reason, I thought Slavin was Canadian. Learn something new every day.