Team USA has been given permission to bring Sabres center Tage Thompson and Devils defenseman Brett Pesce to Boston as standby players for Thursday’s 4 Nations Face-Off finale, reports Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. As was the case with Quinn Hughes who was initially intended as the reserve player, the only way Thompson or Pesce could suit up versus Canada is if Team USA drops below 12 healthy forwards or six healthy blueliners. Thompson was one of the more notable omissions from the initial roster and is averaging a point per game through 48 outings in Buffalo. Meanwhile, Pesce has been as advertised in his first season with New Jersey, logging nearly 21 minutes a night in a shutdown role in his 48 appearances.
More from the Eastern Conference:
- Maple Leafs winger Max Pacioretty left practice early today with head coach Craig Berube telling reporters including Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun that the veteran tweaked something when he took to the ice. Berube added the injury isn’t believed to be too serious at first glance. Pacioretty has dealt with injuries off and on throughout the season and has been limited to 37 outings where he has five goals and eight assists while logging just 13:30 per game, his lowest ATOI since his rookie year back in 2008-09.
- Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock took part in today’s practice in a non-contact jersey as he works his way back from an undisclosed injury sustained late last month. However, head coach Patrick Roy noted to reporters including Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News (Twitter link) that the blueliner’s availability for Sunday’s contest against Dallas remains uncertain. Pulock is logging nearly 22 minutes a night and has 16 points in 48 games and with the Isles just three points out of a share of the last playoff spot, getting him back soon would certainly help their fortunes.
Not a bad pair of standby’s.
Are they expecting the roster to drop below those numbers? I don’t recall having read anything about Canada bringing in standbys. I guess the journey isn’t far to Boston for those guys though.
There was a report from the Daily Mail that Team USA has a number of players dealing with the flu.
Tage Thompson was a surprise not being on the team originally as an argument could be made he should have been. Brett Pesce is top notch defenseman as one could make an argument for him too being on the team originally. Anyway, solid standbys for team USA.
At least Pacioretty hit the 35 game mark to kick in the bonus, so good for him. He’s cooked though.
While obviously Pesce won’t play in all likelihood, it’s pretty crazy that John Carlson has seemingly now been passed over for this three times.
This generation’s Gary Suter— overshadowed by bigger names, but at the end of the day, he’ll be looked upon fondly as a peer to those bigger names.
Carlson is a good player, but they’d really only want to add him as the extra if they he would be replacing Werenski or Fox. He’s not a guy that you want to have to rely on in a shutdown role or to be the steady partner for an OFD, which is the bill that Pesce fills. As Herb Brooks said, “We don’t want the best players, we want the right players”