Carol Schram and Adam Kierszenblat discuss the WHL's newest team, including how they're operating this season and what to expect from their promising roster. Sidney Crosby [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjYyMDM1NzM2ODMxMTgw/usatsi_9575745.jpg] Sidney Crosby The NHL recently announced its intent to stage an international competition in February 2025 – less than 18 months from now. It could be the World Cup of Hockey or something like that, but given how we know time flies, it will soon be time to go through the process of selecting players for the world’s top hockey nations. Compounding the complexities of staging a tournament that hasn’t operated since 2016 is the problem of what to do with hockey’s top Russian players. Given their homeland’s war in Ukraine, Russian players will have to come to terms with a situation that has worked in other sports – namely, the opportunity to play as Russians as a whole without actually using the Russian name or flag. That may be the only solution allowing Russians to compete, either in the next World Cup or at the next Olympic games in 2026. 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 out of the way, let’s take a stab at picking out rosters for the next World Cup. Sure, there will be some unforeseeable changes to the roster – injuries and changes in competitiveness will push out some familiar names and pull in currently little-heralded names – but for the most part, the composition of the teams we project to be involved is fairly straightforward. The most talented players of every nation should be representing their country. We’re going to start off the process with a look at one of the favorites – Team Canada: ROSTER PREDICTION Goalies: Marc-Andre Fleury, Darcy Kuemper, Logan Thompson Other options in goal: Stuart Skinner, Carter Hart, Jordan Binnington, Tristan Jarry Defense: Cale Makar (RD), Dougie Hamilton (RD), Brandon Montour (RD), Shea Theodore (RD), Josh Morrissey (LD), Owen Power (LD), Devon Toews (LD), Morgan Rielly (LD) Other options on defense: Jakob Chychrun (LD), Alex Pietrangelo (RD), Aaron Ekblad (RD) Forward: Connor McDavid (C), Nathan MacKinnon (C), Sidney Crosby (C), Connor Bedard (C), Mitch Marner (RW), Brayden Point (RW), Mark Stone (RW), Jordan Kyrou (RW), Zach Hyman (LW), Brad Marchand (LW), Steven Stamkos (LW), Jared McCann (LW) Other options at forward: Dylan Cozens (C), Carter Verhaeghe (LW), Jeff Skinner (LW), Jonathan Huberdeau (LW), Nick Suzuki (C), John Tavares (C), Mathew Barzal (RW), Mark Scheifele (C) THE LOWDOWN As you can see by the names who were other options for their team, Canada is blessed with imposing depth – at least, at forward and on defense. But let’s begin by looking at their situation in goal, where the picture is far from clear. We like Fleury as one of the three choices if he’s still active; his experience would come into handy in a position where there will be all kinds of pressure to remain composed at all times. Otherwise, it will probably come down to the players who have Stanley Cup-winning experience for the other two netminder spots – and even then, there will be goalies with Cup or playoff experience on the outside of the roster picture looking in. And that’s where Thompson and Kuemper get the nod over Binnington and Jarry. Meanwhile, on defense, we’ve established must-pick players in Makar, Hamilton, Montour, Theodore, Morrissey, Power and Toews. After that, we’re taking Rielly for his skating and offense instincts. You need right-shot and left-shot backup plans, and so we’ve identified the left-shot Chychrun and right-shots Pietrangelo and Ekblad as insurance. Finally, up front, we had to turn away youngsters who may come to represent Canada in best-on-best tournaments down the line – Cozens, Verhaeghe and Suzuki – as well as veterans such as Tavares, Huberdeau and Scheifele as depth picks. There’ll be some new looks with players including Bedard, Kyrou, McCann and Hyman, but if you look at our four forward lines, you’ll see there’s excellent balance and firepower to spare: McDavid centering Marner and Hyman, MacKinnon centering Point and Marchand, Crosby centering Stone and Stamkos, and Bedard centering Kyrou and McCann. All in all, Canada will put together a frighteningly potent lineup, and they don’t need their goalies to steal games. That would be welcome, of course, but on this Canadian team, it’s their scoring prowess that will either win them or lose them the World Cup. They have what it takes to win it all, but as we all ought to know by now, the best teams on paper don’t necessarily translate to the best teams on the ice. Canada will have to prove itself worthy of a place in hockey history in 2025, but they have the know-how, the experience and the hunger to do so.
