Assuming no Lafreniere and I also know nothing about the goalies so I’m not gonna comment on them.
First Line: Dach is an NHL player already, he will be the huge, dominant 1C Canada needs that will just control the ice and probably push for tournament MVP. Cozens is probably the 2nd most skilled forwards Canada has access to and while he is fully capable of running his own line, I feel like they’ll want him playing top line minutes and they have enough depth so they can afford to stack this line. 1LW/2LW/3C are interchangeable as far as I’m concerned, I think Newhook is the best of the 3 though so I have him rounding out what will probably be the best top line in the tournament.
Second Line: I think Byfield is the obvious choice for 2C behind Dach, this gives Canada two huge centres that make matchups difficult, not to mention he’s insanely skilled and will undoubtedly play a bigger role this year. I have him behind Dach, Cozens, and Podkolzin for best forward at the tournament, but he should certainly be in the 4-7 range with the likes of Raymond, Stutzle, and Zegras imo. Most years he’d be the 1C but this just makes Canada scary threatening. I have McMichael on the left because I really like the way he played last year, and I reckon he has the edge on Krebs. Tomasino has a great shot and just adds to the offensive firepower. I think Krebs is better but Tomasino shoots right so I think he gets the edge rather than Krebs playing his off side. This is probably competing with the Robertson-Zegras-Caufield unit for third best line in the tournament (the Holtz-Henriksson-Raymond trio is the second best line in the tournament imo).
Third line: Thisbis where things start to get interesting. I think Krebs is a lock, and honestly playing on the 3rd line is madness, he’d be a top line guy most years. I like him here because he’s a great playmaker, and you can put him with Quinn, an elite sniper, and Poulin, a power forward with a good shot. I will say I do think Poulin’s spot is the most replaceable on the team, one of the scratches could easily take that from him considering how good everyone is. Really solid third line, should be very dangerous against the weaker lines of most opponents. This could easily pass for a top line as well lmao, and they get to munch on the easy matchups.
Fourth line: I think Mercer will make the team again so they have someone with defensive awareness. I also really like Lapierre’s playmaking ability and two-way game so I think he snags the 4C role and turns this into a shutdown line. Perfetti has too much hockey IQ to not make it imo, and him and Lapierre have existing chemistry from last year’s Hlinka-Gretzky tournament so I just think this is a really solid line all around, got a little bit of everything (high-end scoring ability, high hockey IQ, good two-way play), should be a good shutdown line that can also score.
Dark Horse Pick: Pelletier over Poulin, just as good offensively but better defensively (I think Quinn also has a solid 2-way game so that would be two lines that are good defensively and offensively in the bottom 6).
Forwards are absurd, Wright’s a prodigy and likely won’t make it (but he’s a lock next year), Beckman is the reigning WHL scoring champ, Holloway is a big, strong kid with great hands who should probably be on the team most years, and then Zary, Rees, and Suzuki are highly skilled as well, those are guys that should generally make the team in like a McMichael type of role (skilled players that start in the bottom six and work their way up to more minutes). Literally Canada’s second team would probably medal on the strength of its forwards lmao
First Pair: Honestly Byram and Drysdale are 2 of the 3 frontrunners for best D in the tournament imo which is kind of absurd (Seider is my #2 choice, I think Byram wins it). There’s not much to say about this pair other than anything other than complete domination would be a disappointment.
Second Pair: I think this is a pretty solid pair, two top-20 picks that play a well-rounded game. Good offensively, reliable defensively, overall a pair you just don’t need to worry about.
Third Pair: There are a few solid options for the third pair here. I went with Robertson-Korczak for the huge shutdown pair, Guhle could be swapped in over Robertson for more offense though, and Barron is always a reliable 2-way D that does well when he represents Canada. I chose the shutdown pair because I know hockey Canada likes guys that are defensively sound (Mercer last year, Vlasic at the 2014 Olympics, etc.). Solid options all around
Dach has shown excellent chemistry with Zary and Tomasino so far, I think they are going to continue to keep them together and that may be a line for the tournament
I think what you said about Pelletier over Poulin will probably happen. Pelletier is arguably the best PK forward at the tryout and that will have heavy influence on if he makes the team or is cut.
Dach has shown excellent chemistry with Zary and Tomasino so far, I think they are going to continue to keep them together and that may be a line for the tournament
I think what you said about Pelletier over Poulin will probably happen. Pelletier is arguably the best PK forward at the tryout and that will have heavy influence on if he makes the team or is cut.
Havent really watched the camp, I heard two guys got covid though, do we know who they are/if the whole team is likely to get it? I would love if Zary made the team, that would probably bump Cozens and Newhook to the second line, McMichael to the 3rd and Poulin out.
Havent really watched the camp, I heard two guys got covid though, do we know who they are/if the whole team is likely to get it? I would love if Zary made the team, that would probably bump Cozens and Newhook to the second line, McMichael to the 3rd and Poulin out.
Cant tell you much about the Covid cases, Im still waiting for the footage of Scrim 2 to be fully released.
Cant tell you much about the Covid cases, Im still waiting for the footage of Scrim 2 to be fully released.
Ah fair enough. I might watch a bit of it if I can find some time this weekend. Didn’t see your comment about Pelletier until after I posted, but I agree, I’ve really been struggling to figure out who would play the PK (obviously Mercer, and I think McMichael played PK last year, and then I slapped Lapierre on the team, and I guess Quinn has a decent 2-way game, not heard much about the defensive capabilities of anyone else though). Pelletier and Zary could bump Poulin and either Perfetti or Lapierre and it would probably be a more well-rounded lineup.
Ah fair enough. I might watch a bit of it if I can find some time this weekend. Didn’t see your comment about Pelletier until after I posted, but I agree, I’ve really been struggling to figure out who would play the PK (obviously Mercer, and I think McMichael played PK last year, and then I slapped Lapierre on the team, and I guess Quinn has a decent 2-way game, not heard much about the defensive capabilities of anyone else though). Pelletier and Zary could bump Poulin and either Perfetti or Lapierre and it would probably be a more well-rounded lineup.
Idk man, he’s like the 9th best one dimensional player Canada has access to, if they go with a more balanced lineup (e.g. guys like Mercer, Pelletier, Lapierre) or a wildcard guy like Zary shows up big he could get squeezed fairly easily imo. Not even totally sold he’s better than Beckman atm and the size element he brings isn’t exactly something Canada is lacking with big guys like Dach, Cozens, and Byfield leading the way
Idk man, he’s like the 9th best one dimensional player Canada has access to, if they go with a more balanced lineup (e.g. guys like Mercer, Pelletier, Lapierre) or a wildcard guy like Zary shows up big he could get squeezed fairly easily imo. Not even totally sold he’s better than Beckman atm and the size element he brings isn’t exactly something Canada is lacking with big guys like Dach, Cozens, and Byfield leading the way[/quot