Lane Hutson, Matt Coronato among top names on initial USA men’s World Hockey Championship roster
USA Hockey has announced its initial roster for the upcoming men’s World Hockey Championship in Latvia and Finland, bringing a group of young players on the 22-man squad.
Teams are eligible to bring up to 25 players to the tournament, which will take place in May 12-28, in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia. That leaves USA with three extra roster spots that could be used for late additions, potentially from teams eliminated in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Introducing the 2023 U.S. Men's National Team roster! #MensWorlds 🇺🇸
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“The depth of our player pool is reflected with our team and we’re excited about the group we have to represent our country at the world championship,” said Chris Clark, the team’s GM. “We’ve got a great mix of experience and youth and most of our players have represented the U.S. before and know what it takes to be successful at a world championship.”
The roster includes eight players who have previously taken part in the tournament, including Cal Petersen, Conor Garland, Nick Bonino and Sean Farrell. Farrell, Drew Commesso and Nick Perbix were also on USA’s Olympic team in 2022.
The team features a youth-focused lineup, with many players – such as Lane Hutson and Cutter Gauthier – having spent the past year in the NCAA. Nick Bonino is the most experienced NHLer with 823 games played over 14 years, while Alex Tuch has seven years of experience. Hutson, the top-scoring defenseman in the NCAA this season, and Gauthier were also part of USA’s World Junior Championship roster last winter.
Casey DeSmith, Ronnie Attard, Drew O’Connor, Luke Tuch and Sammy Walker will all be making their IIHF tournament debuts with the United States, while 10 players have experience with the United States National Team Development Program.
USA will open the tournament with a game against Finland on Friday, May 12. They’ll then follow it up with contests against Hungary, Germany, Austria, Denmark and France before finishing off the preliminary round against Sweden on May 23. The final will take palce on May 28 in Tampere.