Peters: Projecting Team USA’s Beijing 2022 Olympic roster – Version 1
The pre-Olympic buildup for Team USA has been one of uncertainty that only got a bit more uncertain in the last week. Team USA’s previously announced GM was Stan Bowman, who resigned as GM of both the Chicago Blackhawks and Team USA following the findings of the Blackhawks’ independent investigation into how the team covered up sexual assault allegations against its former video coach.
USA Hockey says it will announce a replacement “in the near future,” but it is not entirely clear who that will be at this point. Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin was the previously announced assistant general manager, but there is a pending SafeSport investigation filed against him for a previous incident overseeing the Pittsburgh Penguins’ minor-league affiliate.
Whoever takes over the team is unlikely to have a wildly different approach than the one Bowman had initially laid out. There was more likely to be an emphasis on skill and speed as opposed to assigning role players that left offense on the table. That said, there could be a few significant differences down the forward lineup than what I’ve projected if whoever takes over has a particularly strong opinion of having a clear shutdown line.
The challenge of building the U.S. team at this point is how much will skill be prioritized? There are a lot of players that are similar to each other, especially down the left side when you’re looking at Kyle Connor, Johnny Gaudreau and Jake Guentzel. Is that too redundant or is each too independently skilled to leave off?
It all comes down to how you want to play. USA’s grave error at the last World Cup of Hockey was attempting to build a team specifically to beat Canada. As a result, there was an overemphasis on size and heaviness that just did not stack up. This roster may swing too far in the opposite direction, but it certainly would provide some entertainment value and with a solid D corps and higher-end goaltending, maybe you take more chances with the group up front.
This is probably the most talented group of American players Team USA has had to pick from since the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Will it be enough to end Canada’s run of best-on-best success?
Here is our first run at the U.S. Olympic roster, which we’ll continue to modify in the weeks leading up to January’s selections:
Forwards:
1. Auston Matthews*
2. Patrick Kane*
3. Matthew Tkachuk
4. Johnny Gaudreau
5. Alex DeBrincat
6. Kyle Connor
7. Jake Guentzel
8. Dylan Larkin
9. Joe Pavelski
10. Brady Tkachuk
11. Brock Boeser
12. J.T. Miller
13. Brock Nelson
14. Chris Kreider
Last cuts: Max Pacioretty, T.J. Oshie, Alex Tuch, Blake Wheeler, Joel Farabee
Potential Lines:
M. Tkachuk-Matthews-Kane
Gaudreau-Larkin-DeBrincat
Connor-Miller-Pavelski
Kreider-Nelson-B. Tkachuk
Boeser / Guentzel
Thoughts: The loss of Jack Eichel looms large and impacted several decisions. Both J.T. Miller and Joe Pavelski can play center and may have to as Eichel’s loss takes a position of strength and weakens it significantly. The concern I have with this lineup and why it made players like Kreider and Brady Tkachuk bigger priorities to get on there is that it’s a pretty light roster in terms of size. There’s a lot of skill, which I think is the direction the U.S. has to consider given the player pool it has, but I would definitely have some concern about the overall defensive capability of this forward group, putting more pressure on the deeper defense and goaltending. Scoring should not be a problem for this group, but if size becomes enough of a concern for USA brass, players like Pacioretty, Tuch and Wheeler all could be options that give a heavier presence without sacrificing offense.
Defense:
1. Adam Fox
2. Charlie McAvoy
3. Quinn Hughes
4. Jaccob Slavin
5. Zach Werenski
6. Ryan McDonagh
7. Seth Jones*
8. John Carlson
Last Cuts: Brett Pesce, Torey Krug Jeff Petry
Potential Pairs:
Slavin-Fox
McDonagh-McAvoy
Werenski-Jones
Hughes / Carlson
Thoughts: This defense corps should be a major strength for Team USA. They have the reigning Norris Trophy winner in Fox, one of the league’s most disciplined shutdown defenders in Slavin, a superstar in the making in Charlie McAvoy, experience in McDonagh, Jones and Carlson and dynamic elements from Hughes, Fox and Werenski. It’s an even split of lefties and righties, a good dose of defensive-mindedness without sacrificing production. If those eight guys are healthy, that’s the best configuration I think the U.S. can come up with. The most excruciating cut for me was Pesce, who I think would be excellent for Team USA’s PK and playing in a shutdown role. Since Jones is already locked in, I felt confident enough in having McAvoy and Slavin as guys that can lock it down. Carlson’s experience as an Olympian and Stanley Cup champion also was a huge bonus and ultimately the deciding factor in him over Pesce on the right side.
Goaltending
1. Connor Hellebuyck
2. John Gibson
3. Thatcher Demko
Last cut: Cal Petersen
Thoughts: If there’s one area the U.S. should not have huge concerns about, it’s goaltender. Hellebuyck and Gibson have had uneven starts to the season, but their collective body of work is largely very good. Demko has actually played really well to start this season, but I think it will be harder for him to unseat two guys who have a bit more experience, including Hellebuyck being a former Vezina winner. There’s a lot of confidence in this group and any one of them have the capability of stealing USA a win or two at any given moment.
* – denotes already named official selection as part of IIHF/IOC timeline