NHL: Predicting The 2016 World Cup Rosters

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Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak, USA Today Sports

The NHL has announced the return of the World Cup of Hockey. The tournament will begin again in September of 2016. The World Cup of Hockey should help grow the NHL on the international level and hopefully help the continued growth of hockey across the world. Countries like Germany, Latvia and Slovakia have been making huge strides in catching up to the big boys, but they aren’t ready to begin competing with the likes of Canada, the United States, Russia or Sweden (or even the Czech Republic). The new addition of the “Europe” team allows players from those nations to compete and show off their talent at the international level.

NHL World Cup Of Hockey: Canada

As always, Canada’s roster at the 2016 World Cup will likely resemble the Dream Team. It won’t be quite as impressive because of the 23 year old cut off rule, but it will still be extremely impressive.

FORWARDS: Sidney Crosby, Tyler Seguin, Claude Giroux, Ryan Getzlaf, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Rick Nash, Jonathan Toews, Patrice Bergeron, Logan Couture, Corey Perry, Jamie Benn, Jeff Carter, Ryan Johansen.

Yikes at that forward group. They could go with any number of options at the 2016 World Cup. Seguin and Benn are two of the most productive forwards in the NHL – and they play on the same team. That’s nuts. It’s crazy to think that Johansen might be the extra forward. Some other intriguing options: Taylor Hall, Brad Marchand, and Matt Duchene. You could probably make a good case for any of those guys, as each of them are NHL players who bring something different to the table.

DEFENSEMEN: P.K. Subban, Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, Mark Giordano, Drew Doughty, T.J. Brodie, Alex Pietrangelo, Marc-Edouard Vlasic

If you thought the forward group was insane, just look at this. Four All-Stars, one guy who really should have been one but wasn’t, and an emerging star. Of course, Canada would have a ton of options as far as reserves. They could go with Kris Letang, Brent Burns, or Tyson Barrie. Who knows, someone else might emerge as a candidate as well.

GOALIES: Carey Price, Braden Holtby, Marc-Andre Fleury

Canada has a ton of options as far as goaltenders. Price would be the clear starter at the 2016 World Cup at this point. Assuming he has a strong 2015-2016 season, Holtby is the clear backup. The third spot would be up for grabs.

Canada’s optimal lineup at the 2016 World Cup would be extremely good, to say the least.

Next: Team USA

Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

NHL World Cup Of Hockey: ‘Merica

The United States likely won’t be quite as deep as Canada, but they’ll still field an extremely good team at the 2016 World Cup.

FORWARDS: Tyler Johnson, Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel, Joe Pavelski, Max Pacioretty, Ryan Kesler, Derek Stepan, Zach Parise, T.J. Oshie, Blake Wheeler, David Backes, Nick Bjugstad, Nick Foligno, James van Riemsdyk

That’s not quite as impressive as Canada’s forward lines, but that’s still pretty darn impressive. The United States will have a plethora of options at the 2016 World Cup. Kyle Okposo and Chris Kreider will compete for a spot.

DEFENSEMEN: John Carlson, Dustin Byfuglien, Ryan Suter, Kevin Shattenkirk, Ryan McDonagh, Justin Faulk, Cam Fowler, Keith Yandle

This group of blue liners is a lot better than you think. It just might be able to hang in there with Canada’s in the 2016 World Cup. They probably have better puck movers than Canada. Who the heck of these guys do you use on the power play? Nick Leddy could make a run with a nice 2015 season.

GOALIES: Jonathan Quick, Ben Bishop, Cory Schneider

I’d go with the strategy of letting Schneider start out of pity. He deserves to know what it’s like to play for a good team that would actually score goals for him. He deserves so much better than the Devils. Quick and Bishop would be awesome backups. Quick is declining, but still one of the best in the NHL. Bishop, as one of the better goalies in the NHL, will reprise his shunned Olympic role.

America’s optimal lineup at the 2016 World Cup would compete with anyone, possibly even Canada. Their blue line is nuts. Some of the most productive blue liners in the NHL.

Next: Sweden

Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

NHL World Cup Of Hockey: Sweden

Sweden will be a very strong team at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. They have an advantage over Canada and America: they can use NHL players that are younger than 23 years old.

FORWARDS: Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Steen, Gustav Nyquist, Filip Forsberg, Jakub Silfverberg, Gabriel Landeskog, Marcus Kruger, Johan Franzen, Patric Hornqvist, Loui Eriksson, Elias Lindholm

That’s a very strong forward group that will rival that of Canada and the United States. They arguably have the second deepest forward group at this tournament, just behind Canada. Should Franzen retire for 2016, look for Andre Burakovsky, Mika Zibanejad or Carl Hagelin to make the team instead. Three of the best young Swedish forwards in the NHL.

DEFENSEMEN: Erik Karlsson, Niklas Kronwall, Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, John Klingberg, Hampus Lindholm, Niklas Hjalmarsson

With their forward group, Sweden must have puck movers. That’s precisely what they have in this blue line group. Kronwall and Karlsson will anchor this blue line. Hedman will help as well. Hjalmarsson is quietly one of the best shot blockers in the NHL.

GOALIES: Henrik Lundqvist, Jhonas Enroth, Eddie Lack

King Henrik will clearly be the starting goalie. Enroth is a fairly safe bet to be one of the two backups. Lack seems to have a lock on the third spot, as he’s a quickly improving NHL goalie.

Next: Team Russia

Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

NHL World Cup Of Hockey: Russia

As always, Russia could have some pretty ridiculous forward lines. As always, they would also be lacking on their blue line, as they lack NHL blue liners.

FORWARDS: Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Vladimir Tarasenko, Pavel Datsyuk, Nikita Kucherov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nikolai Kulemin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Alexander Radulov, Nail Yakupov, Alexander Burmistrov, Artem Anisimov, Vladislav Namestnikov, Alexander Semin

I deliberately tried to include as many NHL players, or at least recent NHL players, as possible. Who knows if Russia and the KHL would even want to send over their best players for the NHL’s benefit? Everyone in this forward group has played in the NHL recently. The bottom six might be fairly weak, but their top six forwards could hang with anyone. Lots of potential on this forward line. There’s a good chance they’ll have the most skilled forwards at the 2016 World Cup.

DEFENSEMEN: Andrei Markov, Slava Voynov, Alexei Emelin, Nikita Nikitin, Fedor Tyutin, Dmitry Orlov, Dmitry Kulikov, Nikita Zadorov

Yeah, this blue line group isn’t that great. If Voynov is eligible to play (domestic violence charges pending), they have a shot to be decent. If he can’t, this will be similar to the 2014 Olympics.

GOALIES: Semyon Varlamov, Sergei Bobrovsky, Andrey Vasilevskiy

Bobrovsky would be the clear starter at the 2016 World Cup. Varly would be a nice backup. Vasilevskiy is a guy to watch.

Next: Finland

Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

NHL World Cup Of Hockey: Finland

Finland, thanks to the retirement of several of their NHL stars, won’t be quite the powerhouse at the 2016 World Cup as we know them to be. However, they’ll still be a very tough team to play.

FORWARDS: Valtteri Filppula, Jori Lehtera, Mikko Koivu, Jussi Jokinen, Aleksander Barkov, Leo Komarov, Sean Bergenheim, Mikael Granlund, Markus Granlund, Lauri Korpikoski, Kasperi Kapanen, Teuvo Teravainen, Teemu Pulkkinen, Tuomo Ruutu

The Finland forward group has two primary strengths. First, an incredible depth at center. No fewer than eight of these guys could play center. That’s insane. Secondly, they’d have youth and speed. The primary weakness of this team would clearly be inexperience. Filppula, Lehtera, Koivu, Jokinen, Korpikowski, Ruutu and Komarov would be their only experienced guys. However, this forward group should at worst still be a ton of fun to watch.

DEFENSEMEN: Sami Vatanen, Olli Maatta, Rasmus Ristolainen, Sami Lepisto, Ossi Vaananen, Petteri Lindbohm, Jyrki Jokipakka, Julius Honka

Another inexperienced group, but one that should not be overlooked. Vaananen and Lepisto all have NHL experience, so they should help to make up for that lack of experience. Ristolainen is HUGE. Vatanen is going to work magic on the power play.

GOALIES: Pekka Rinne, Tuukka Rask, Antti Niemi

Next: Czech Republic

Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

NHL World Cup Of Hockey: Czech Republic

The Czech Republic will likely have to rely very heavily on their forwards in the 2016 World Cup.

FORWARDS: Jakub Voracek, Jaromir Jagr, Jiri Hudler, Ondrej Palat, Tomas Plekanec, Radim Vrbata, Michael Frolik, Martin Hanzal, David Krejci, Jiri Tlusty, David Pastrnak, Milan Michalek, Tomas Hertl

This forward group could be excellent by 2016. I’m assuming Jagr will be playing because, let’s be real, Jagr would play in a wheel chair if that was legal. Even if Jagr finally retires for good, they could go with a young gun like Jakub Vrana. Like Sweden, they would definitely benefit from being allowed to have players who are under 23, as Pastrnak and Hertl will likely play huge roles for them.

DEFENSEMEN: Marek Zidlicky, Jakub Kindl, Zbynek Michalek, Roman Polak, Jan Hejda, Radko Gudas, Tomas Kaberle, Andrej Sustr

This will be the main weakness of the Czech Republic. Very little talent on this blue line. Zidlicky is decent, but that’s about it.

GOALIES: Ondrej Pavelec, Michal Neuvirth, Petr Mrazek

If Pavelec is for real or Mrazek develops very quickly, Czech Republic might have a chance in the 2016 World Cup. Otherwise, they likely won’t.

Next: Europe

Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

NHL World Cup Of Hockey: Europe

As I said earlier, I think this is a great idea. Countries like Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Slovakia and Latvia can’t compete with the big boys yet. This allows them to do so and for each of these countries where hockey is thriving to show off their best talents. I tried to include as many countries as I reasonably could.

FORWARDS: Tomas Tatar, Marian Hossa, Mikkel Boedker, Anze Kopitar, Thomas Vanek, Mats Zuccarello, Nino Niederreiter, Marian Gaborik, Tobias Rieder, Zemgus Girgensons, Jannik Hansen, Frans Nielsen, Lars Eller

A pretty darn talented forward group, albeit one that lacks elite level talent. Still, this is a very competitive forward group. Would be a very fast and skilled one. I think Girgensons is going to be much better come 2016. He gets a bad rap because of the NHL All-Star voting last season, but he’s a really good player stuck on a really bad team. I think that changes this season as Buffalo is clearly better than they were last year.

DEFENSEMEN: Zdeno Chara, Lubomir Visnovsky, Andrej Sekera, Christian Ehrhoff, Roman Josi, Dennis Seidenberg, Mark Streit, Mirco Mueller.

This is a surprisingly solid blue line. Obviously, Chara is a huge question mark. But I really like this blue line group. Mirco Mueller is a really bold choice, but he’s incredibly talented and he’s arguably the best puck mover of this group. That’s not an insult to this group, that’s a testament to how good Mueller is.

GOALIES: Frederik Andersen, Jonas Hiller, Jaroslav Halak

Hiller would be the likely starter of this group, as he has had a ton of success in international play. However, Andersen is a very talented young goalie who could unseat Hiller.

Next: The Young Stars

Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

NHL World Cup Of Hockey: The Young Stars

This was a brilliant idea by the NHL. It allows for the young players to have a chance to prove themselves. It also helps handicap the big boys and level the playing field a bit. Now, prospects and young forwards are hard to project. However, I’ll try to project these young players, most of whom will be in the NHL come 2016.

FORWARDS: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, John Gaudreau, Nathan MacKinnon, Sean Couturier, Sean Monahan, Jonathan Drouin, Brandon Saad, Ryan Strome, Max Domi, Alex Galchenyuk, Mark Scheifele, Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Jonathan Huberdeau

Most of these are pretty obvious picks. Everyone except Domi and Drouin is a proven NHLer. Drouin should improve in 2016 and is one of the best young talents in the NHL. This forward group has a ton of skill and speed. About the only thing they lack is size and grit, which is why Domi is on this team. Tom Wilson could be another fit if he improves in 2016. Same with Bo Horvat, though Horvat has a better chance.

DEFENSEMEN: Aaron Ekblad, Seth Jones, Jacob Trouba, Darnell Nurse, Dougie Hamilton, Morgan Rielly, Cody Ceci

Obviously this blue line is inexperienced. However, it more than makes up for it in talent. Ekblad is already one of the best blue liners in the NHL. I have to keep reminding myself that he’s not even 20 yet. Jones has been a victim of being on the same team as Weber and Josi, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s a really good defenseman. Griffin Reinhart and Damon Severson could both contend for a spot on this team.

GOALIES: John Gibson, Malcolm Subban, Zachary Fucale

This was by far the toughest to predict because goalie prospects are by far the toughest to gauge. Goalies are largely a product of their team. Gibson was the only “definite” pick. Gibson has all the makings of a solid NHL starter. He’s quick, agile, and his positioning is impressive for his age. Subban has been tearing it up in the AHL, so he’s about as safe of a bet as you can get for a goalie prospect. Fucale is an unknown at this point, but he’s a really excellent young goaltender.

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