Canada Olympics roster prediction

We did the United States’ roster last week. Now it’s on to the other favorite, Canada. The Canadians have won the last two gold medals in the Olympics where NHL players were used, and they also won last year’s Four Nations Face Off and the last World Cup of Hockey in 2016.

They will be looking to continue their dominance over the top levels of international hockey with another loaded roster that will look very similar to the one they put out at the Four Nations last year. Like the Americans, they will have some changes, though.

What are those changes? Who stays? We answer those questions with the projected Canadian roster below.

Extras: Mark Scheifele, Dylan Strome

Just Missed: Matt Duchene, Wyatt Johnston, Connor Bedard, Robert Thomas, Seth Jarvis

Extras: Shea Theodore, Aaron Ekblad

Just Missed: MacKenzie Weegar, Evan Bouchard, Vince Dunn

Goalies

Jordan Binnington

Adin Hill

Logan Thompson

This is likely the hardest roster to project. We know that McDavid, MacKinnon, Crosby, Reinhart, Point and Makar will represent their country as they were named as the first six over the summer.

Behind them, it’s a very close competition with dozens of players competing for a few coveted spots. Many of the players that just miss this roster would likely make any other roster outside of maybe the U.S.

Marchand and Bennett are two of the more interesting cases. Marchand is aging, and Bennett has never been great in the regular season, so their numbers might not be as great as other candidates for the team.

Their performances this past postseason and their physical play might give them an edge and make them great options for the fourth line. It’s important to note they were both included in the Four Nations roster before lighting up the playoffs and being the top two for the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Celebrini is the hot young talent on this team. He had a solid rookie year and is off to a great start his season. He will also likely have the support of Crosby after the two competed together at the World Championships earlier this year.

The defensemen might be even harder to predict than the forwards. Morrissey and Toews feel like locks, Morrissey because he’s likely the second-best defenseman, and Toews will be paired with Makar like he is on the Avalanche.

Behind them, it depends on the type of player that the front office is looking for. Do they look for guys with high offensive talent like Harley and Bouchard, or big stay-at-home defensemen like Parayko?

Harley and Theodore were both on the Four Nations roster and will likely be there again. The question there is likely which one gets the start.

In the end, it’s conceivable that regardless of how he performs this season, Binnington will be the starter. Thompson is off to a great start, but it will take more than a great season to overtake Binnington.

His regular-season numbers haven’t always been great, but he’s earned a reputation as one of the most clutch goalies in the league.

His performance in the Four Nations is up there among his most clutch performances ever, and he was a huge reason Canada came away with the win in the final, with multiple big saves in overtime.

Jacob Rudy is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jar7371@psu.edu.