Prospective Rosters for Sochi '14

[Jalili]

There is the potential to see more Oilers than just Eberle.
Taylor Hall has a good chance.  Maybe Nugent-Hopkins if there are injuries to centers mentioned.  Both with International experience.
Dubnyk deserves a look (3-1-3, 1.80, .948 in last 7 GPI).

Wouldn't surprise me if they give Hall a look just because of his skating and athleticism, which will be at a premium on international ice.

As for your forwards something to keep in mind is the bigger ice surface which will put speed at a premium. I think the 2006 team made the mistake of taking older/bigger players who produced in the NHL that then looked out of place on the European ice.

Hit the nail on the head. In the same way that size seemed to be the key ingredient to the 2010 team, at the expense of a guy like St. Louis who detracted from it, skating may be what they target more this time around.

 

[Kin]

This is how I see team Sweden shaping up:

Sedin-Sedin-Eriksson
Zetterberg-Backstrom-Holmqvist
Stalberg-Landeskog-Alfredsson
Steen-Berglund-Franzen
Pahlsson

Karlsson-Kronwall
Edler-Hedman
Ekman Larsson-Murray
Larsson

Lundqvist
Lindback
Markstrom

I have to say, that's a team with pretty good depth and a wide variety of talents. If they eschew some of the older, more NHL style guys like Franzen and go with some of their younger, faster guys they could present a lot of problems.

 

[Jalili]

Enstrom will be there for sure, and I'm not sure if Murray is well thought of enough to make the team.

 

[Kin]

Enstrom will be there for sure,

I wouldn't necessarily say that based solely on the start to the season. He's got a case to make, sure, but I think Sweden is going to want to take a well rounded group on the back-end and I've never been wowed by Enstrom defensively.

and I'm not sure if Murray is well thought of enough to make the team.

He made their Olympic team in Vancouver so I don't think the problem is that he's not well regarded by Swedish hockey folk. Like I said, I think they're going to want to bring some stay at home types.

 

[Jalili]

Enstrom will be there for sure,

I wouldn't necessarily say that based solely on the start to the season. He's got a case to make, sure, but I think Sweden is going to want to take a well rounded group on the back-end and I've never been wowed by Enstrom defensively.

and I'm not sure if Murray is well thought of enough to make the team.

He made their Olympic team in Vancouver so I don't think the problem is that he's not well regarded by Swedish hockey folk. Like I said, I think they're going to want to bring some stay at home types.

With skating and mobility being an emphasis in Sochi and Murray being quite poor at both relative to the other Swedish D-men, I don't see them passing up on significantly better D-men just to fill a roll.

If Enstrom can't cut it defensively I could certainly see Brodin getting a spot.

 

[Justin]

While we're at it:

Ovechkin - Malkin - Kovalchuk
Radulov - Datsyuk - Semin
Yakupov - Anisimov - Tarasenko
Kulemin - Grigorenko - Zherdev
Afinogenov

Markov - Nikitin
Gonchar - Tyutin
Voynov - Volchenkov
Emelin, Kulikov

Bryzgalov
Nabokov
Varlamov

---

J. Jokinen - M. Koivu - Selanne?
Filppula - S. Koivu - Korpikoski
Leino - O. Jokinen - Miettinen
Ruutu - Komarov - Bergenheim

Timonen - Salo
Pitkanen - Lydman
Lepisto - Laakso

Rinne
Rask
Kiprussoff

 

[bustaheims]

The Russian lineup will definitely have more players to represent the KHL that just Radulov and Afinogenov. At the very least, guys like Kalinin and Mozyakin will be on their roster.

EDIT: Kuznetsov probably gets a serious look as well, even if he comes over for the Caps.

 

[Kin]

With skating and mobility being an emphasis in Sochi and Murray being quite poor at both relative to the other Swedish D-men, I don't see them passing up on significantly better D-men just to fill a roll.

I think that when that role is killing penalties and defensive ability teams are going to be willing to make some concessions in that area. I think if you look back at the '06 and '98 Olympics most teams still tried to put together a well-rounded top 6.

 

[Peter D.]

Two names I'll throw out there for Team Canada I haven't seen -- Duchene and Lucic.

If guys like Seguin, Eberle and Hall get consideration, I think Duchene should as well.

If the team is looking for a big body/imposing presence with the ability to score, then there aren't many better choices than Lucic.

 

[Jalili]

I'm starting to think Canada's team will look more like it did in 2010 than I originally thought heading into the season.

Stamkos/Tavares/Giroux/Pietrangelo/Price are guys who weren't there last time that I full expect to make the team, but I'm starting to think that a major youth shift won't occur until 2018.