Earlier today, the preliminary rosters for the 8 World Cup of Hockey participants were announced. Each team announced 16 players to each roster and most of the names announced were to be expected. Here are the Montreal Canadiens who were invited to participate in the upcoming event:
Team Canada
G Carey Price
CP31’s name being announced isn’t really a surprise when you account for who is the among the best goalies. What is surprising is Price’s name being mentioned as a starter for the event, especially when you account his injury issues this year and the emergence of Braden Holtby as one of the top 2 goalies in the league. When healthy, Price has been his typical dominant self, posting a 10-2-0 record with a 2.06 GAA and .934 SV%, numbers we have come to expect of the reigning league MVP. With the World Cup taking place in late September, their is plenty of time for Price to prove he is healthy and able to carry the workload like he did at the Olympics but as mentioned previously, Braden Holtby’s potential record breaking season has closed the gap significantly and he can now be safely mentioned on par with Price and the duo should split the starts at the beginning.
Price has represented the Maple Leaf on three occasions in his career, at the 2003-04 World Under-18 Championships(4 GP, 2.65 GAA, .894 SV%), the 2007 World Junior Championships(6 GP, 1.14 GAA, .961 SV%) and the 2014 Winter Olympics(5 GP, 0.59 GAA, .972 SV%).
Team Czech Republic
C Tomas Plekanec
Montreal’s unsung hero for many years, Plekanec was named to the Czech Republic national team for an astounding 13th time in his career. Plekanec will continue to fill the primary shutdown forward role for the Czech team that Habs fans have grown to know and love for the past 11 seasons. Plekanec will likely slot in as the 1st or 2nd line center spot with Boston Bruins rival David Krejci filling the other top 6 center spot. Despite Montreal’s well documented struggles, Plekanec has remained a beacon of consistency, having cracked the 45-point plateau for the 8th time in his NHL career, though he will be hard-pressed to crack the 20 goal plateau, which will only be the 4th time he doesn’t hit it in his career(barring a huge hot streak in the final 19 games).
As mentioned, Plekanec has suited up for his home nation a remarkable 13 times, most recently appearing in 2 games during the 2015 World Championships. In his career, Plekanec has played 95 games and has recorded 25 goals, 35 assists, 64 PIM and a +10 rating.
Team Russia
LD Andrei Markov
The longest-tenured Montreal Canadien was a somewhat surprising addition to the Russian team given
his well-documented struggles this season. The 37-year old defender was named alongside Dmitry Orlov and Dmitry Kulikov, both of whom weren’t even ten years old when Markov entered the NHL in 2000-01. Markov will likely fill his familiar role as a top 4 defender while seeing time on the top PP unit and top PK unit. Despite having a down year, Markov has hit the 30-point plateau for the 10th time in his career although his 4 goals would represent a career low if he remains scoreless through the remaining 19 games.
The World Cup will be the 14th time Markov suits up for Russia on the international stage and the first time since the 2014 Olympics. All told, Markov has seen action in 86 games, recording 9 goals, 33 assists, 38 PIM and a +43 rating.
Team USA
LW Max Pacioretty
Montreal’s 1st-year Captain will be representing Team USA for just the 4th time in his career. In doing so, Pacioretty will be relied upon to fill a role he hasn’t necessarily been asked to fill on the international level as he goes in as one of USA’s top 6 wingers, likely playing with some combination of Patrick Kane, TJ Oshie, Zach Parise, Joe Pavelski and Blake Wheeler. The 27-year old Pacioretty has seen his share of disappointments in his first year as Captain but continues to pace the Habs attack as their leading goal-scorer and currently ranks 3rd on the team with 45 points. A year removed from posting a league-leading +38 rating, Pacioretty has seen a complete 180 in 2015-16 with a -12 rating which ranks 2nd worst in Montreal, ahead of only Lars Eller’s -15.
Pacioretty’s international resume has seen him play in 19 games, score 2 goals, register 11 assists, take 16 minutes in penalties and post a +1 rating.
The Snubs…So far
D PK Subban – Team Canada
This one is an obvious snub. PK has been his usual phenomenal self this season and continues prove why he is one of the NHL’s very best at his position. Despite an uncharacteristically low 3.1 shooting percentage(he was a career 6.84% before this season), Subban is still 6th among defencemen in scoring with 47 points, which leads the Habs. He also ranks 3rd among defencemen with 23 PP points and 42 assists and is 7th in TOI per game at 26:09. The only real knock on PK this season has been his decision-making at times but with his dynamic ability on offense, he is being paid a premium to take risks and more often than not, he capitalizes on those risks. The only thing really working against PK in terms of his placement on the World Cup roster is the fact he was not a key piece in Mike Babcock’s rotation at the Olympics and will certainly have to force his way onto Babcock’s team.
Snub? Not really.
C Alex Galchenyuk – Team North America
When I began writing this article, I originally had Chucky as a surefire snub and here’s why. Despite being in his 4th NHL season, Galchenyuk is still just 22 years old and has progressed in every season thus far and should crack the 20-goal mark for the 2nd consecutive season and has an outside shot at cracking the 50-point mark for the first time in his career. Having said all of that though, the North American forward group is incredibly deep despite the age restriction. The top 6 has 7 elite-level players fighting for spots with Jack Eichel, Sean Monahan, Connor McDavid, Nate MacKinnon, Johnny Gaudreau, Dylan Larkin and Brandon Saad. That leaves 4 spots in the bottom 6 and as much as Galchenyuk has progressed defensively, he does not fit in alongside Sean Couturier or JT Miller as a shutdown forward. All I can really do is hope Galchenyuk takes this as a snub himself and it lights a fire in him and he ends the year on a torrid streak, progressing to become a top line player next year.
The guys who could still make it
C Lars Eller – Team Europe
Eller could easily crack Team Europe and fill a 3rd/4th line shutdown role with Jannik Hansen and Frans Neilsen.
LD Alexei Emelin – Team Russia
Emelin is an international veteran who has played with Russia on 14 different occasions since 2003-04. He could fill a bottom pairing role as a shutdown defender.
RW Brendan Gallagher – Team Canada
When you think of Gallagher, you don’t really associate him as a Team Canada player. However, their are many who predict he could crack the roster as a 3rd/4th line agitator and possible PP specialist.
What are your thoughts Habs fans?