Will the lack of size on the blueline be a problem for the United States?

Team USA hit the ice for their first practice together on Monday, as the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament kicks off this week from Montreal. United States opens their tourney with a matchup on Thursday, when they’ll battle it out against Team Finland. With an absolute loaded roster, Team USA is the favorites entering the tournament, however, their lineup does have a few question marks.

The American’s blueline isn’t a towering group. Talent – yes, size? Minimal. Will they be able to rely on smarts, skill, vision, and instant chemistry to come out on top? Or, will Canada, Finland, and Sweden be able to get in hard on the forecheck, and throw off the undersized American defense core?

At practice on Monday, Team USA had Jaccob Slavin paired with Adam Fox, Zach Werenski skated with Charlie McAvoy, and Noah Hanifin and Brock Faber made up the third pair.

On Monday’s primetime episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli dished on Team USA, and if their blueline will be up for the challenge.

Yaremchuk: You talked about Quinn Hughes, so let’s head over to that, but I don’t know if its quite your biggest question mark. But, Quinn Hughes isn’t here, that’s a massive loss.

Seravalli: Hart Trophy caliber player. And, now you take this defense core that was good, and has some really nice pieces, and there’s not going to be a huge drop off in running a power play Quinn Hughes to Adam Fox. And, you’ve got a really good defender in Jaccob Slavin playing with him. I really like the balance of this USA defense core, but to me, the biggest question for Team USA in this tournament is the size of their defense.

Quinn Hughes 5’11, he’s gone, but Adam Fox 5’11, Charlie McAvoy is the second tallest guy on the defense core and he’s 6’1. I’m not saying it’s necessarily going to be ‘the’ difference maker, but, when you are going against a Canadian attack that has the superstars, yeah, maybe skating ability is more important than size, but in this case, I’m a little bit concerned about – will the US defense be worn down by Canada as this tournament goes on?

Or, by another team. It could be a ground-and-pound offense from a team like Finland. I could see that being a closer game than expected from the US, because as much as their offense has the star power, and the goal-scoring ability, you have to be able to defend. The really nice part about that, on the other end of it, you’ve got Connor Hellebuyck.

For everything you need to know on each nation heading into the best-on-best tournament, watch the full episode below: