Six of the top 10 U.S. defensemen in goals didn’t make it: Justin Faulk of the St. Louis Blues, second with 10; Carlson, tied for third with eight; and Hutson, Mattias Samuelsson of the Buffalo Sabres, and Jacob Trouba and Jackson LaCombe of the Ducks, tied for sixth with six each.
“Those guys are all great players too, and I understand that,” Guerin said. “But we have to make a team. I’ve said before, like, if we’re doing it like that, then you don’t need a general manager. You don’t need a coach. Like, just do it by stats.”
The U.S. talent pool is deeper than ever before. This speaks to that. And Guerin is right: The leadership group must consider how forward lines, defense pairings and special teams units will fit together, and they must consider how they’ll do it under pressure in a best-on-best tournament. This won’t be regular-season hockey. Body of work matters more than recent production.
Canada faced similar dilemmas. Among the players who didn’t make Team Canada: six of the top 15 forwards in points, seven of the top 15 forwards in goals, six of the top eight defensemen in points and eight of the top nine defensemen in goals.
The United States came close to winning the 4 Nations Face-Off last season. After defeating Canada 3-1 in Montreal earlier in the tournament, the U.S. took Canada to overtime in the championship game in Boston before losing 3-2.
Of the 25 players on the U.S. Olympic roster, 21 played at 4 Nations, and Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes would have if not for injury.
