May 7: Celebrini and Fantilli have returned home from Czechia, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. The former will participate in tonight’s 2024 NHL Draft Lottery, while Fantilli’s reasons for departing are undisclosed. It’s unclear whether they’ve been removed from the roster entirely. In a corresponding transaction, the team added Kings center Pierre-Luc Dubois and Lightning forwards Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul to the roster.
May 3: Hockey Canada has released its roster of 22 players who will wear the maple leaf at the 2024 World Championship, which begins next week in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia. There are three open spots left to be filled throughout the tournament as more teams are eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Much like the initial World Championship roster that USA Hockey released weeks back, it’s almost completely made up of NHL talent – a rarity for the top-level countries at this tournament recently. The return and promise of future best-on-best international tournaments in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics has players and front offices looking at this year’s Worlds as a tune-up and initial evaluation for those events.
In fact, the only non-NHL player on Canada’s tournament-opening roster will be in the league next season. That’s presumptive 2024 first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini, who continues his 2023-24 campaign after taking home the Hobey Baker Award for the top collegiate player in his freshman season with Boston University. Their offense is highlighted and led by Blackhawks rookie phenom Connor Bedard and Kraken sniper Jared McCann, while Sabres defenders Bowen Byram and Owen Power highlight the back end. Blues netminder Jordan Binnington is expected to serve as the team’s starter.
The full roster is as follows:
F Connor Bedard (Blackhawks)
F Michael Bunting (Penguins)
F Macklin Celebrini (2024 draft-eligible)
F Dylan Cozens (Sabres)
F Adam Fantilli (Blue Jackets)
F Ridly Greig (Senators)
F Dylan Guenther (NHL Utah)
F Andrew Mangiapane (Flames)
F Jack McBain (NHL Utah)
F Jared McCann (Kraken)
F Dawson Mercer (Devils)
F Brandon Tanev (Kraken)
D Bowen Byram (Sabres)
D Kaiden Guhle (Canadiens)
D Jamie Oleksiak (Kraken)
D Colton Parayko (Blues)
D Owen Power (Sabres)
D Damon Severson (Blue Jackets)
D Olen Zellweger (Ducks)
G Jordan Binnington (Blues)
G Nico Daws (Devils)
G Joel Hofer (Blues)
I hope the yotes get a year of NHL Utah like the Redskins got football team
There’s no comparison. It took a generation under one of the worst owners in sports history to ruin that brand and try to save himself by renaming the team to appeal to the PC brigades-just before the harassment lawsuits became public.
The former Coyotes had it bad, but nowhere as bad as having Dan Snyder own the team.
Can they call in whoever from the maple leafs, bruins, VGK, stars etc as they get knocked out?
Yes, although they can only add three players without dropping anyone else
This squad will change a lot in 5 days haha
That’s not how this tournament is generally played. Most of the countries with quite a few players still in the NHL playoffs hold 2-3 spots open for NHL teams eliminated in the 1st round or quickly in the 2nd round, and maybe get a guy or 2 involved for injury insurance, but they’re not actually part of the team unless the country has an injury occur. Generally what they announce is their team unless someone gets bounced from the playoffs and is willing to forego their summer.
Canada has 3 spots left… They’re very unlikely at this point to cut someone to make room for a 4th player. They’ll likely offer those 3 spots to their top 3 hopefuls to join the squad, if one says no, they’ll offer it to their 4th choice. If he says yes, and then 4 days later another guy says he chose wrong and wants to now play, the team will likely say sorry, but our squad is now set. Unless it’s a Makar, MacKinnon, McDavid type player. In which case those guys likely say they need to rest and reset for next season anyways and decline the invite once their playoffs are over.
But a guy or 2 might get the invite from DAL, VGK, BOS, or TOR. Just not many of them.
USA! USA! USA!
PLD declined because the CNT isn’t The Canadiens.
The hockey version of the NIT.