The below is not my personal Team Canada, as I’ve written in the past, but rather what I expect will actually be the makeup of this year’s Team Canada at the Four Nations Face-off. This is my first actual “projection,” if you will.
The final spots on Team Canada’s Four Nations team have been decided, the players have been told, and really only one thing has changed: we thiiiiiink we know that a couple of borderline players — a couple of the “maybe” names that have been so hotly contested — have leaked into the public consciousness. I can’t pretend I haven’t seen the reports, or that they haven’t affected my thinking.
Just yesterday, there was a series of tweets that said the below regarding the red-hot Travis Konecny (30 points in 25 games), and Travis Sanheim (15 points and 25 mins-plus of TOI per game):
So, it seems like they’ve made the team.
Upon further review, the Sanheim thing makes an insane amount of sense.
He’s got 15 points in 25 games, which is great and all, but more than that, he’s everything Team Canada would want in a bottom-pair guy. He’s playing over 25 minutes per game, totalling over 100 more minutes than the next-busiest Flyer. He leads them in PK ice time by a wide margin. He’s six-foot-four and 222 pounds. He’s playing top competition and driving play effectively compared to his teammates.
Given all the question marks after about four D on Canada, he makes sense.
Konecny can get the same treatment I gave Sanheim above. Another prime-aged player having a career year who can play down the lineup. He plays a ton and has had great success pushing the play the right way for the Flyers. He’s competitive as hell. These guys are good.
And so, let’s just lay it out the way I think it will show up, and then I’ll give some quick thoughts.
Forwards
Point-McDavid-Reinhart
Hagel-MacKinnon-Marner
Marchand-Crosby-Konecny
Stone-Cirelli-Scheifele
Bennett
Close: Wilson / Hyman … Bedard / Lafreniere / Verhaeghe
Defence
Toews-Makar
Morrissey-Pietrangelo
Sanheim-Theodore
Doughty
Close: Parayko / Weegar / Hamilton / Bouchard / Rielly / Montour / Dobson
Goalies
Thompson
Hill
Binnington
Close: Fleury / Talbot / Daccord
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4 Nations Roster Reveal show
Sportsnet unveils the full cast of superstars set to represent their countries at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Watch the Canada and USA roster reveals on Dec. 4 before Wednesday Night Hockey at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT.
REFLECTIONS
Forwards
Among those forwards, Brandon Hagel played himself out of “maybe” territory over the course of this season. He was this good last year, but the sample size wasn’t there yet. It’s there now.
I’m curious if the team will take Mark Stone, given his injury concerns, but I assume they will, and will lean on alternates if and when they find out he can’t play.
I’m torn on the final spot, as I’m sure Canada has been. Wilson seems like somebody Hockey Canada would love, right? The huge guy who intimidates people and can score? But Bennett does those things too, and he’s producing at a higher clip this year. I’d argue Bennett is more effective shift-to-shift, while Wilson has bigger one-off moments.
The only question mark I have is how much they believe in Zach Hyman, who is hurt and off to a slow start. He’s supposed to be back soon and had 54 tucks last year. He was creating those same chances this year, and they’re going to go in at some point for him. He’s also a great PK and end-of-game option, to say nothing of the forechecking he does for linemates.
Defence
Nobody has outright claimed any of the bottom D spots, and picking Drew Doughty allows you to pick him, and drop him if he’s not healthy by the tournament. There is the risk that you pick him, and he’s not good when he’s back, but a bad Doughty as your seventh D probably isn’t a crisis considering his competitiveness and leadership. There are worse guys to have in the pressbox if he’s not playing well. And he should be back with at least a month of games to play before the tournament.
That said, I do think that the men in charge of making these decisions (such as Doug Armstrong of the St. Louis Blues) are cognizant of the rift that was formed between Martin St. Louis and Steve Yzerman when the latter didn’t initially select the former for Team Canada, despite St. Louis being on Yzerman’s NHL team. If it’s close, tie will go to the player on the manager’s team, and I think Colton Parayko has done well despite being handed a crap sandwich with the Blues. All he does is start in the D-zone against top competition, and he’s been good in those minutes. He’s a big guy, a right shot, and he’s got experience playing calm in high-pressure minutes. In the end, nobody has taken that job, so he could well get the nod.
Otherwise, Dougie Hamilton stands out as a talented, big option for them to select, and MacKenzie Weegar is a great all-around choice.
Goalies
I don’t think this debate is all that close, as these three seem like the obvious answers to me. After that, you just play whoever’s playing best, which is unsexy and scary, but with three Stanley Cup champions listed here, you have to feel good knowing they’ve handled high-stakes moments in the past.
We’ll know the answers on Wednesday and we’re down to grinding over a name or two. Whoever is selected, Canada is going to be loaded and should be a blast to watch come February.
