On Friday morning, Chris Johnston at Sportsnet published an article about there being “cautiously optimistic” feelings about a 2021 World Cup of Hockey happening instead of the usual all-star break.

Because it’s August and there’s nothing to talk about, and because August is the season of looking at T25U25 lists, I thought I’d have some fun trying to come up with a potential Team North America roster for 2021.

I will follow the rules of the last World Cup held in 2016:

  • In 2016, the players had be 23 or younger as of October 1st, 2016, with the final game scheduled near the end of September.
  • Since the all-star game in the last season was in January, I am going to say that the World Cup in 2021 would be held the same month.
  • Therefore to be eligible for Team North America in the 2021 World Cup, all players must be 23 years old or younger as of February 1st, 2021./

Let’s have some fun!

Forwards:

Matthew Tkachuk — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner

Brady Tkachuk — Mathew Barzal — Alex DeBrincat

Clayton Keller — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Brock Boeser

Jack Hughes — Nolan Patrick — Anthony Cirelli

Extras that missed the cut: Jordan Kyrou, Cody Glass, Alex Turcotte, Dylan Cozens, Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Morgan Frost, Joe Veleno...

Connor McDavid juuuuuuuuuuust misses the cut, as he’ll turn 24 in January 2021. Eichel’s another guy that was close. Losing them hurts, especially at center. They’ll still have some fire power though!

Defense:

Zach Werenski — Charlie McAvoy

Quinn Hughes — Cale Makar

Bowen Byram — Evan Bouchard

Extras: Adam Fox, Jake Bean, Dante Fabbro, Noah Dobson, Cam York, Ty Smith...

The defense is very young and therefore relatively weak. They juuuuuust lost out on Thomas Chabot and Noah Hanifin being eligible. On the other hand, that made room for Quinn Hughes!

Goalies:

Starter: Carter Hart

Extras: Michael DiPietro, Spencer Knight, MacKenzie Blackwood

The goalies seem like they could be very strong, between Carter Hart and the next uber-goalie prospects in Michael DiPietro and Spencer Knight.

So there you go, that’s a rough idea of what a new Team North America could look like. I might have missed some guys who are good prospects but not established in the NHL yet, and there might be some guys who take giant leaps forward to take an obvious spot by the time 2021 comes around.

What do you think? Are there any young players or prospects you think will be ready for prime time at the World Cup in 2021?

ONTO THE LINKS!

Recapping this past week’s T25U25:

#16 — Joseph Woll | by Katya

#15 — Mac Hollowell | by brigstew

#14 — Ilya Mikheyev | by Katya

#13 — Nic Petan | by seldo

#12 — Jeremy Bracco | by Hardev

Why today’s NHL stars look far different than those that dominated decades ago | by Justin Bourne at The Athletic

Chris Johnston on the Mitch Marner negotiations: “Based on what I’ve heard recently, I don’t know that the gap is all that huge” | interview on Sportsnet Radio, transcribed by MLHS

2019 Leafs Prospect Rankings – The Long Shots: Filip Kral | by Ryan Hobart at The Leafs Nation

Speaking of Leafs prospects...

AROUND THE NHL

Patrik Laine ‘prepared for anything’ with future in Winnipeg uncertain | by Chris Johnston at Sportsnet.ca

The perils of paying players into their 30s | by Travis Yost at TSN

Because I know people love their jerseys...

More fallout fun from Minnesota’s firing of Fenton:

And finally, Christmas came early this year! Unless you’re a Canucks fan.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Do you think the 2021 Team North America could be better than the 2016 version?

Yes, so much young talent led by Auston Matthews!51
No, hell no, not without McDavid128
Maybe, it depends38
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