Hockey Post - World Cup Edition

Time for a quick hockey post on the upcoming World Cup - feel free to ignore the ramblings!

The World Cup is a bit of a money-grab, but it's international hockey, so I'll give it some interest. Team Canada has to name an initial 16-man roster, basically it's core players, before naming a full team. Here are my picks:

Goalie (2)
Carey Price, Braden Holtby

Price is the best goalie in the world, provided he's back to form when healthy. Holtby's been on a tear this year, but it's not a single-season performance - he's been solid for years now. I can't see them not naming two goalies in the first bit and while the other options (Luongo, Fleury) are fine, Holtby's performance has been slightly better, so he's earning an early spot.

Defensemen (5)
Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Shea Weber, PK Subban, Marc-Edouard Vlasic

Keith, Doughty, and Weber have plenty of international experience and are phenomenal all-around D-men, this year being no exception. PK Subban has been stellar for years and was under-appreciated in Sochi. He gets knocked for being a defensive liability, but it's an unfounded reputation these days - watch him play, look at traditional stats, or advanced stats, Subban's one of the best two-way defensemen in the league. His main weakness is undisciplined penalties, but he'll be on a tight leash on Team Canada and his upside it too great to pass up. At worst he becomes the 7th D-man. Vlasic's a role-player, to be used more in a shutdown role, but few players do it better and he's not a burden to the offense. There are some more talented players, some of whom I expect to make Team Canada, but in a short tournament reliability is key and no one's more consistent than Vlasic.

Forwards (9)
Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Toews, Jeff Carter, Corey Perry, Taylor Hall, Patrick Sharp, Brendan Gallagher

Benn and Seguin are self-explanatory. Right now they're the best two players in the NHL short of Patrick Kane and their underlying numbers are incredible. They can keep this pace up and they play so well together. Bergeron is such a unique player that he's worth it for the intangibles alone, but his offense (which was already very good) has hit a new level this year. Toews and Carter aren't having the best years, but they're defensively responsible with acceptable offensive contributions and strong international experience, so I give them the benefit of the doubt for a less-than-stellar season thus far. Perry's actually having a bad year, but luck's a big factor there - both he and Getzlaf are playing quite well on both ends, but aren't finding the back of the neck at the rate they normally do. Canada also lacks right wingers, so Perry kind of wins by default.

Hall was fringe candidate at the beginning of the year but he's putting together a strong season and has earned a spot. He'd be great in an offensively-oriented role. Sharp I would never have put on this list a few months ago, but he currently sits 5th highest scoring Canadian forwards (Benn, Seguin, Hall, and Bergeron are 1st through 4th). Sharp's mostly benefiting from riding shotgun with Benn and Seguin, but who cares? They'll be there anyway. Plus if those two need a different winger, he's got plenty of experience in a more defensive role with Toews. Gallagher is being mentioned more and more often by hockey pundits and I throw him on my short list with confidence. His advanced stats are amazing and he manages to be a pest without being undisciplined. He can single-handedly break a game open and everyone seems to get better playing with him. Like Perry, Gallagher's status as a right winger helps, as the competition for those spots is less (and may end up being filled by centers being shifted to the wing).

Obviously I've left some controversial omissions. No Crosby, no Stamkos, no Tavares, no Getzlaf. None are having great seasons. Getzlaf, like Perry, can blame bad luck - he's still decent on defense, so if the puck starts bouncing his way (as it should), he could easily earn a spot on the full roster. None of the others have the luxury of blaming chance, however. Crosby, Stamkos and Tavares have mediocre advanced stats to go along with their mediocre regular stats. These three are offensively-oriented centers who aren't generating that much offense. Everyone else on the list is either producing better offense or has a much more complete game (or both). Even for point-producing players, there are better options this year not yet on the shortlist in the form of Hoffman, Duchene, MacKinnon, or O'Reilly. Crosby, Stamkos and Tavares are big names to leave off the Team Canada roster, but tournaments aren't won by names, they're won by play - and they're just not playing well enough so far this year.