Zak MacMillan

"CBJ"

Harrisburg, PA • United States • 23 Years Old • Male

CBJ- Multiple Guys on World Cup Rosters/Several Snubs

Some of the best players in the world will be playing in a competitive tournament representing their nations. There are eight teams in the World Cup of Hockey- USA, North America, Europe, Canada, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Czech Republic. Out of all those teams, there are six Blue Jackets on the World Cup rosters.

Sergei Bobrovsky (Russia)

Brandon Dubinsky (USA)

Jack Johnson (USA)

Seth Jones (North America)

Ryan Murray (North America)

Brandon Saad (North America)

Let's start with North America. The Jackets' best players are under the age of 23, and it shows in the three guys this team took. Seth Jones and Ryan Murray will probably be in ever game this young team plays, and they may play together too to build their chemistry. Brandon Saad also joins this young team, and because of his early success, I expect him to be a top 6 forward on this team.

Team USA gave John Tortorella the team he wanted. A big, heavy, physical team that may not be scoring many goals during the tournament. Torts recruited center Brandon Dubinsky and defenseman Jack Johnson to be on his American team. The Alaskan forward will probably be playing a bottom six role with penalty killing on this team. The Indianapolis native will be a bottom pairing defenseman on Team USA.

For Team Russia, they picked up Sergei Bobrovsky, who will probably be their starting goaltender, unless he struggles like he did last season in Columbus.

Looking at the overall rosters, I think there are three snubs, maybe four from the Blue Jackets roster.

With Team North America, they left a 30 goal scorer off in Boone Jenner. Boone could filled in quality ice time on the penalty kill and the bottom six, similar to what Brandon Dubinsky could be doing for Team USA.

With Russia, I am a little puzzled by the fact the Fedor Tyutin was left the roster. With as much NHL experience that he has, he could have played a bottom pairing role on the Russian squad.

Another guy that was left off was Cam Atkinson. Even though this year was his breakout year, and he played with Tortorella, he brings speed and scoring to a team that lacks both.

Finally, the potential third overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Jess Puljujarvi was left off, even though Patrik Laine is on the team. It's amazing to see after the year he had, not make the team. As a top 3 pick, he should be on this team.

What are your thoughts on the World Cup rosters?

More to come...

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