USA Hockey announced the first 15 members of its national team for the men's World Championship in May, which drew lots of attention to the level of NHL talent on the roster.
Eyebrows were raised across the hockey world when USA Hockey revealed its first batch of commits for the 2024 World Championship in Czechia.
The roster, as of now, is made up of nine forwards (Matt Boldy, Cole Caufield, Joel Farabee, Johnny Gaudreau, Luke Kunin, Dylan Larkin, Shane Pinto, Brady Tkachuk and Trevor Zegras), five defensemen (Luke Hughes, Seth Jones, Jake Sanderson, Alex Vlasic and Zach Werenski) and one goalie (Alex Lyon).
Even without knowing the remaining players, there’s no doubt this will be the deepest World Championship roster USA has assembled since before the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s no coincidence, either.
Since COVID-19 cancelled the 2020 World Championship, USA’s last three rosters have featured high-end NCAA talent, top minor-league players, fringe NHL players and the occasional impact NHL player. Rocco Grimaldi was the top scorer for Team USA last year, and Adam Gaudette and Ben Meyers led the way in 2022.
This year, virtually all the forwards (except for Kunin) are bona fide top-six players. Each defenseman is at least a top-four blueliner, with Sanderson being a bona fide top-pairing defender and Werenski being a No. 1 D-man. Lyon is a fringe NHL starting goalie.
Mind you, most of the players announced for this year's tournament were also eligible for the 2023 Worlds — although none of them attended.
So, what changed?
Well, we’ve got best-on-best hockey on the horizon for the first time in a while, with the 4 Nations Face-Off taking place in February 2025. Players on the fringes of being selected for a best-on-best tourney have used the World Championship as a way to put their game on display for their country's talent evaluators.
Joe Pavelski and Ryan Suter suited up for Team USA at the 2009 Worlds before representing their country at the 2010 Olympics. The same goes for Justin Faulk, who played at the 2013 Worlds ahead of the 2014 Olympics.
A large contingent of the forwards and defensemen named to USA’s 2024 World Championship roster could conceivably fight their way onto the 2025 4-Nations roster and 2026 Olympics.
Up front, Tkachuk, Larkin or Boldy could really help their case with a strong tournament. The same goes for Sanderson and Vlasic, two young studs whose career trajectories are on a steep incline. And then there’s Zach Werenski, a long-assumed shoo-in for USA, who will now have to duke it out with Sanderson and Vlasic for his spot on the pecking order.
The remaining roster spots may likely include NCAA talent or fringe NHL players. But for the first time in a while, those players won’t be the focal point of the tournament, and it’ll make the World Championship even more exciting this spring.
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