USA Team Built On Speed and Grind Similar to 2010 and not 2014

Team: 2021-22 Custom Team

Initial Creation Date: Sep. 9, 2021

Published: Sep. 9, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

This team is not meant to be popular, but one that will grind out wins. I'm sorry, but Debrincat, Guentzel, Gaudreau and Oshie will not win you a gold medal. They will help you go 4-0 or 3-1 in the prelims, but they will not win you anything in the elimination rounds. Canada, Sweeden, Russia will eat them alive.
Base the team the same way you build playoff teams; Speed, Size, Strength, and role players.
You have scoring in Kane, Matthews, Connor, and the most offensive back end of any team. You do not need more scoring in the bottom 6.
The list is pretty organized here. The Scratches are the two extra players you can have. The IR players are my cuts that could go either way to round out the bottom 6. The taxi squad are guys who are on the radar but don't make the team.
The team will get you to a gold medal game in my opinion. Your bottom two centers have better FOW than your top two. Even the bottom two lines have wingers who have a better FOW than the top two centers. But each of the bottom 2 lines have the ability to put pucks in the net, while being considered "shut down" lines or "identity lines" for the team.
Compare this team to Vancouver that won Silver. Burkie built a team that will grind you down. In 2014, Poile built a team that relied on scoring more vs grind you down style. That team didn't medal at all. If you'd like to have Debrincat, Gaudreau and the rest of those guys, then that's fine, but I doubt that team will medal.
So to finalize, my team is built similar to the 2010 team, but the defense is a little more offensive than that team. I believe this group will get you in the final game.
Oh and I love the 3rd line. You should be able to put that line out against the best from any team and they will not only shut them down, but also push the pace and be that "identity line" that each team needs.
Oh did I mention, I'd love to see the first powerplay unit?!? That sure would be fun to watch! This team should have a bit of nastiness to it!