Everyone has a question about the men's Canadian Olympic hockey team heading into 2022.
Aside from the few locks up front, a variety of forwards are having great NHL seasons and perhaps playing their way into a roster spot. Andrew Mangiapane, for example, has 17 goals in 25 games and would have been a fringe player at best for this team before last season.
Mangiapane confirmed to our Eric Francis that he was named to Canada's long list of 50-plus players back in October and that's important because if you didn't make that collection of names, you can't play your way in now.
"You had to be on the master list, which was mid-October," Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong told Kyper and Bourne Tuesday. "It was a thing for all countries...some players that weren't on our list are having great years that would have got considerations. But those were the rules going in. Once that list was set we were told there would be no more additions."
Another big question is in net because if Carey Price is healthy and playing, he's likely going to be Canada's No. 1. But Price voluntarily entered the NHL's player assistance program more than a month ago and is also working his way back from off-season knee surgery. He hasn't played a game since the Stanley Cup Final ended July 7.
Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme said this week that it was unlikely Price would return to game action before Christmas.
Armstrong was asked how he's viewing Price's availability and how late he can go before having to consider other options.
"We're gonna want to make sure we have communication with Carey, obviously there's things more important than hockey," Armstrong said. "I had one brief conversation with him and it was just more to say we're rooting for you and looking forward to watching you play.
"He's one of those players with his pedigree, what he did last year, it's not only what he's done internationally whether it be at the World Championship in '16 or Olympics in '14, you only have to go back to what he did for the Canadiens last year in the playoffs to know he's still a top-level player. I would say the runway is getting shorter and shorter but it's Carey Price and if he can get up and running some time around Christmas that would give us a bit of time to figure out where we're at with our goaltending."
Price has been skating in Montreal on his own and without full equipment for a little over a week.
Another question around the men's team is how the defence is going to shake out. There will be a lot of turnover from the 2014 Olympic team and a lot of the biggest names are offensive-leaning blueliners. So how much will this management team look to defensive specialists on the blue line and how heavily will experience weigh in those choices?
For example, in building out our Canadian roster last week, we found it difficult to provide an even lefty-righty shot split without any huge surprises. Right shooting Drew Doughty is at the centre of a lot of these roster debates, too, because he's been a featured player on past Team Canadas, but faces stiff competition this time. In this regard, New York Islanders defencemen Adam Pelech has gained some traction as a possible pick for Team Canada, given he's a stay-at-home defenceman and a left shot.
"What we've tried to do is go back and look at the teams that have had success for Canada and I think you have to have that wide variety of player and I think Adam is one of those players like a Bouwmeester or Vlasic that you know what you're going to get," Armstrong said. "They can kill penalties, they can kill out games, and there's a few players like that. We're not just going to take just offensive players because you have to close games out.
"On defence you want certainly gifted offensive players and some really shutdown players. Out of the eight guys you'd hope to have at least five, hopefully six, 200-foot players who can play either side."
Building out Team Canada means you have a lot of great players to choose from, but a lot of headaches in trying to come up with an optimal lineup as well. It's hard to get out of the mindset of building an all-star team here. The Russians and Swedes and Americans and Finns -- everyone Canada will face -- will also be icing highly competitive rosters and it's key to think about how you'll win against those teams and simply building an all-star roster would leave some holes in specific moments.
The fact NHLers didn't compete in the 2018 Olympics -- the first time they'd missed since 1994 -- means there is greater roster uncertainty now. While there is a 2016 World Cup of Hockey to draw from, it'll have been about eight years from the last best-on-best event. Normally, we'd have a better idea of who worked well together last time and some roster spots may be more locked down.
"Biggest difference also is we didn't go in 2018," Armstrong said. "My experience is you have that crossover group that have been there and then a new group evolves...by not going in '18 there's not a lot of holdover players from '14 that there would have been in '18. There's going to be a whole host of new players wearing the Canadian jersey for the first time at this level and it's going to be interesting to see how they respond to the pressure of going to play for the Olympic team."
One key to pulling together a team and bridging this gap, Armstrong says, is to look at who's performed best at the most key moments on the hockey calendar. This is where players on rebuilding teams may be at a disadvantage.
"How do you perform in the Stanley Cup playoffs and if your team doesn't get there how do you perform in the World Championship?" Armstrong said. "You want to see how guys perform when the light is the brightest. If you haven't played important games in 4-5 years it's a leap of faith that you're going to have the ability to get it done in those games. I think experience in the playoffs and World Championship play a lot into it."
It's getting closer to decision time, but there are still a few weeks left for players to get on to, or fall off of, the roster. The NHL has until Jan. 10 to decide if it wants to pull out of Olympic participation without penalty, and final roster will be due some time after that date.
