Predicting a 2025 Team USA World Cup of Hockey Roster

Adam Proteau predicts the roster for Team USA if the NHL and NHLPA move ahead with an international competition in 2025.

The NHL recently announced its plan to stage an "international competition" – like the World Cup of Hockey – in February of 2025, which is less than 18 months from today. It will soon be time to go through the process of selecting players for the world’s best hockey nations.

The World Cup of Hockey has a problem of what to do with its Russian players due to the political unrest in Ukraine. The NHL and NHLPA will have to address the situation with a philosophy that has worked to handle Russian players in other sports – namely, the opportunity to play as Russians without using the Russian name or flag. That could be the only solution allowing Russians to compete, either in the next World Cup or at the next Olympic games. So, if we’re going to move ahead with roster predictions for a 2025 World Cup, we do it by using the same type of group of Russian players.

With that clarification made clear, we’re going to project rosters for the next World Cup. Yes, there will be unforeseeable changes to the roster – injuries and competitiveness changes will create opportunities for some and close them for others, but for the most part, the composition of the teams we project to be involved is fairly clear. The most talented players of every nation should represent their country.

We began the process Friday with a look at one of the favorites – Team Canada. Today, we’re shifting our attention to the co-favorite team from the USA:

Goalies: Jake Oettinger, Connor Hellebuyck, Thatcher Demko

Other options in goal: Jeremy Swayman

Defense: Adam Fox (RD), Charlie McAvoy (RD), Justin Faulk (RD), John Carlson (RD), Quinn Hughes (LD), Jaccob Slavin (LD), Zach Werenski (LD), Jake Sanderson (LD)

Other options on defense: Seth Jones (RD), Jacob Trouba (RD), K’Andre Miller (LD)

Forward: Auston Matthews (C), Jack Hughes (C), Tage Thompson (C), Jack Eichel (C), Matthew Tkachuk (RW), Alex DeBrincat (RW), Clayton Keller (RW), Alex Tuch (RW), Brady Tkachuk (LW), Jason Robertson (LW), Kyle Connor (LW), Johnny Gaudreau (LW)

Other options at forward: Dylan Larkin (C), Cole Caufield (LW), Matty Beniers (C), Trevor Zegras (C), J.T. Miller (C), Troy Terry (RW), Jake Guentzel (RW) Patrick Kane (RW)

As it is with the Canadian team, the American squad has an embarrassment of riches, particularly on defense and at forward. Indeed, you could construct a highly competitive lineup just with the U.S. players who didn’t make our final cut. But the ones who did make the cut are elite players with or without the puck. 

In terms of blueliners, our pairings of Fox and Hughes on the first pair, McAvoy and Slavin on the second pair, Faulk and Werenski on the third pair, and Carlson and Sanderson on the extra pair all have the ability to create offense by the bushel.

Meanwhile, up front, our lines break down like this: Matthews centering the Tkachuk Bros., Hughes centering DeBrincat and Robertson, Thompson centering Keller and Connor, and Eichel centering Tuch and Gaudreau. 

All four lines are potentially lethal. And if any injuries prevent those players from participating, Team America can turn to top talents, including Larkin, Zegras, Guentzel and Caufield, among others. Any one of those lines can do massive damage with the puck, and the U.S. could have other youngsters emerge between now and 2025 to make the roster-choosing process even more difficult.

The Americans don’t have a clear-cut No. 1 goalie to lean on at the next World Cup. That said, the three main options of Hellebuyck, Oettinger and Demko all have the ability to steal games. Their goaltending is better than Canada’s at the moment, and while that could change with time, you could pick any one of the aforementioned three at the moment and feel confident they’ll provide enough defense for their offense to overwhelm opponents.

Years of development have gifted USA Hockey with gems from top to bottom. While many will pick Canada as the odds-on favorite to win the next World Cup, we’d feel just as comfortable predicting the American team as the World Cup winner. The difference between winning and losing the tournament is likely going to be razor-thin, but the U.S. has more than enough firepower to be the last team standing.