Team USA would have a stacked team at a women's World Junior tournament able to field an entire roster of first and second-year NCAA players.
Few nations would feature the depth of the United States, who could field an entire roster from the NCAA. A World Junior Championship tournament for USA would be a feather in the nation's cap as they'd annually be a contender for gold given how their talent pool pipeline is designed.
Their national assessments are already in place to add such an event, and it would allow the best in the NCAA to shine on an even larger scale.
Here's a look at who the USA could bring to a women's World Junior tournament this year.
Forwards
This group would be a nightmare to play. Up front senior national team members Tessa Janecke (2004) and Laila Edwards (2004) would provide a solid one-two punch, but that would be followed by NCAA snipers Kirsten Simms (2004) and Elyssa Biederman (2004). Both are lighting up the NCAA this season, with Simms sitting in the top five in scoring playing for powerhouse Wisconsin. The benefit for USA is their entire roster could come from the NCAA if they chose, including another wave like Claire Enright (2004), Jordan Ray (2004), Joy Dunne (2005), Cassie Hall (2005) and Ava Lindsay (2005). If there were one non-NCAA player who could crack this roster, Finlay McCarthy (2005) of Bishop Kearney plays a style that would thrive in the bottom six here. Potential players to round out the final forward spots include Alexandra Lalonde (2005), Ella Boerger (2004), Josie St. Martin (2006), Sammer Taber (2005), Kelly Gorbatenko (2004) and Katherine Khramtsov (2004),
Defence
Emma Peschel (2004) and Sydney Morrow (2004) would provide a formidable top pairing, that could also manage a powerplay with ease. The duo are scoring at or above a point per game in the NCAA this season. Recent U-18 standouts who are now playing regular minutes in the NCAA including Grace Dwyer (2004), Laney Potter (2004), Molly Jordan (2005), and Elly Klepinger (2005) could fill USA's blueline, while the team could look to bring a player like Bishop Kearney's Megan Healy (2007) to expose her for future years.
Goalies
There's no shortage of talent at this position, but Annelies Bergmann (2005) is the logical starter having played that role for USA's U-18 team, and now in the NCAA with Cornell, one of the top programs in the nation. Ava Mcnaughton (2004) is the other goalie who would challenge for a starters position as she's played significant time with Wisconsin in the NCAA. Young goalie Layla Hemp (2006) would make sense as the team's third goalie.