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Washington Capitals that will make World Cup preliminary rosters

By Bradley Davis

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Oct 31, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov (center) celebrates his game winning goal against the Florida Panthers with defenseman Dmitry Orlov (9) and left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) in overtime at BB&T Center. The Capitals won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 31, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov (center) celebrates his game winning goal against the Florida Panthers with defenseman Dmitry Orlov (9) and left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) in overtime at BB&T Center. The Capitals won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports /

The World Cup of Hockey will be making a comeback this summer, and the NHL will be announcing the preliminary rosters tomorrow. The Washington Capitals will likely have a high participation rate due to a strong season fueled by the emergence of many young, talented players.

There will be eight teams in this summer’s World Cup, a list made up of Team Canada, Team USA, Team Sweden, Team Finland, Team Russia, Team Czech Republic, Team Europe and Team North America.

Unlike most international tournaments, the World Cup will be played on an NHL-sized rink and abide by NHL rules. Each team will consist of 23 players (20 skaters, 3 goalies).

The teams will also be split into two groups.

Group A: Team Canada, Team USA, Team Czech Republic, Team Europe

Group B: Team Finland, Team North American, Team Russia, Team Sweden

The preliminary roster announcements will reveal the initial 16-team rosters, while the remainder of the roster will be decided by early June.

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Because just the preliminary rosters will be released tomorrow, let’s take a look at which Washington Capitals will be on the top of their respective countries lists tomorrow.

Team Canada

Braden Holtby is pretty much unarguably Canada’s best healthy goaltender at this point. With Carey Price injured for most of the year, his status is probably questionable at best for this summer’s tournament.

Holtby has been one of the top goaltenders in the league all season, though he has cooled off as of late. With that said, he is still a superhuman 39-7-3 with a 2.23 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.

Team USA

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    • John Carlson had a strong start to the season, though it has been derailed a bit as of late due to injuries. After about a month off in parts of January and February, he is now on long-term injured reserve and he will likely be there for much of March. There is a good chance he will play in around ten games before the playoffs.

    Injuries aside, Carlson is one of the most talented blue liners that the United States has to offer. While he may not make the preliminary roster tomorrow, there is little doubt that he should be representing his country come summer.

    Team Sweden

    Nicklas Backstrom is a shoe-in to make the Swedish roster. His play has been a little bit quiet as of late, but he is still one of the best players in the world. He is still producing at just under a point-per-game rate.

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    The Swedish roster has an elite goaltender, and elite top-four defensively and at least six elite forwards. Behind them, it is a bit of a toss up.

    This is why there is at least a decent chance that Marcus Johansson, who is having his best season as a professional, could hear his name called tomorrow as well. He has thrived in his third-line center role for much of the last two months, and has probably locked himself into a spot on the roster whether he is named tomorrow or not.

    Team Russia

    Team Russia’s preliminary roster is likely going to include three prominent Washington Capitals. Alex Ovechkin is a mainstay for Russia as the top goal scorer in the entire world, and there is no doubt that his name will be called tomorrow.

    Evgeny Kuznetsov is another player who has broke onto the scene this season. He could be a number one center on more than a handful of teams in the NHL, and he is just 23-years-old. There is no reason that he won’t make the preliminary roster as well.

    Dmitry Orlov is an interesting case. Although he is somewhat buried on the Washington Capitals third defensive pairing, there is an argument to be made that he is one of the top two defensemen that Team Russia has.

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    While only the top sixteen players for each country will be announced tomorrow, the Washington Capitals will be well represented when the World Cup of Hockey comes around.

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