Greeley: Projecting Team Canada’s Beijing 2022 Olympic Roster – Version 1

Given the embarrassment of riches available north of the 49th parallel, you’d think projecting Team Canada’s men’s hockey entry for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics would be an easy task.

But it’s when you have to start making cuts that you quickly realize just how difficult a task Doug Armstrong and Hockey Canada’s management staff have on their hands.

In the end, you are building a team that will need to be great at everything. This isn’t an NHL Skills Competition or an All-Star Game. It’s about giving Canada the best chance to win a fourth straight gold medal in best-on-best competition.

Last week, Armstrong made the easy choice by naming Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Alex Pietrangelo as his first three official selections for the team.

There is no question cracking Canada’s Olympic roster is one of the primary motivating factors to start this NHL season. Steven Stamkos and Drew Doughty have seemingly turned back the clock, perhaps to send a message to Armstrong that they still warrant consideration.

This is Daily Faceoff’s first run at projecting Team Canada’s roster. This is a living and breathing list. You’ll see players ordered and ranked in terms of their security in our projection. Projected lines are less important since they are undoubtedly fluid, but are offered more so as a way to show overall strength.

Our projection will change in the run up until rosters must be submitted in early January – and we’ll keep updating it based on play, production and yes, even injury – just Armstrong and Team Canada will.

Here is my Team Canada projection through the first week of the 2021-22 NHL season:

Forwards:
1. Sidney Crosby*
2. Connor McDavid*
3. Nathan MacKinnon
4. Patrice Bergeron
5. Brad Marchand
6. Mark Stone
7. Mitch Marner
8. Ryan O’Reilly
9. Sean Couturier
10. Brayden Point
11. Steven Stamkos
12. Mark Scheifele
13. Jonathan Huberdeau
14. Mathew Barzal

Last Cuts: Tyler Seguin, Taylor Hall, Bo Horvat

Potential Lines: Marchand – Crosby – MacKinnon
Huberdeau – McDavid – Marner
O’Reilly – Point – Bergeron
Stone – Couturier – Stamkos
Scheifele / Barzal

Thoughts: Team Canada is loaded up front and the players that make the roster will not offer anything in terms of shock value. Stamkos is one player that is off to a great start and that may help cement his spot over a few players like Seguin and Hall who are certainly knocking on the door.

Defense:
1. Alex Pietrangelo*
2. Cale Makar
3. Drew Doughty
4. Dougie Hamilton
5. Shea Theodore
6. Darnell Nurse
7. Josh Morrissey
8. Aaron Ekblad

Final Cuts: Colton Parayko, Morgan Rielly, Jakob Chychrun
Potential Pairs: Theodore – Pietrangelo
Nurse – Doughty
Morrissey – Makar
Ekblad / Hamilton

Thoughts: The defense corps will lead to more debate, but in the end, coach Jon Cooper and Armstrong will attempt to pick a group of eight that they believe will jell quickly and be able to connect the dots in all three zones for Team Canada. Armstrong has a lot of familiarity with Parayko and that might give him a leg up in the competition, but he is squarely on the bubble – and Ekblad doesn’t give up much by way of size.

Goaltenders:
1. Darcy Kuemper
2. Marc-Andre Fleury
3. Jordan Binnington

Final Cut: Mike Smith
Thoughts: Goaltending is by far Canada’s biggest question mark and will likely remain that way throughout the selection process. How will Carey Price look when he returns to the ice? When will he return? Will Mackenzie Blackwood be available with his vaccination status? Smith is also on the radar as well, he served as the third goaltender for Team Canada in Sochi in 2014.

* denotes already named official selection as part of IIHF / IOC timeline.

Next Team Canada Projection: Week of Nov. 15, 2021

Next Up: Chris Peters’ Team USA Projection next week.

Steve Greeley joined Daily Faceoff in Oct. 2021 after spending 12-plus seasons in an NHL front office as scout, director of player personnel and management. He was most recently assistant GM of the Buffalo Sabres from 2017-20.