USA is going to have plenty of tough decisions with 4 Nations Face-Off roster deadline looming

We are less than two weeks from Canada, USA, Sweden and Finland announcing their rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off, so here at Daily Faceoff, we’ve once again made our updated predictions for what the rosters might look like during the tournament.

Frank Seravalli was behind the prediction for Team USA, and he was certainly the busiest of the four, making three changes to his roster, particularly bringing in Tage Thompson and taking out Chris Kreider. He explained his reasoning for his roster choices on Daily Faceoff Live.

Frank Seravalli: I had Chris Kreider out [on my roster]. I just found the way that Tage Thompson has played to this point has been dominant, and I think it’s really tough to deny him a spot with the size that he brings and the different elements.

I left in Vincent Trocheck from the New York Rangers and I know that’s Ranger on Ranger crime there. But to me, when you look at Trocheck and the minutes that he plays under Peter Laviolette, and how much more he sees, speaks to the versatility that he has compared to Kreider and speaks to the trust that he has in the lineup.

And that’s really what you’re looking for when you’re putting together the bottom six that you have for Team USA. Give me some different elements to bring to the table. What are you gonna be doing at even strength since you’re not gonna be on the power play.

Kreider’s an unbelievable net front presence, a tough guy to leave off, but I think that’s probably the right play. You look at someone like Matt Boldy. He scores again last night in Edmonton. He’s been north of a point-per-game so far this season. There’s maybe a little bit of pause with J.T. Miller and the leave of absence, but I would think that the body of work that he’s put in to this point probably makes him a really safe bet still for the Americans.

You can watch the full episode here…