USA Hockey Releases Preliminary World Championship Roster

With the World Championship set to begin next week in Switzerland, rosters are starting to get put together.  Today, USA Hockey revealed its preliminary roster for the event.  It consists of three goalies, eight defensemen, and 14 forwards and is as follows:

Goaltenders

Drew Commesso (Blackhawks)
Devin Cooley (Flames)
Joseph Woll (Maple Leafs)

Defensemen

Will Borgen (Rangers)
Declan Carlile (Lightning)
Connor Clifton (Penguins)
Justin Faulk (Red Wings)
Wyatt Kaiser (Blackhawks)
Ryan Lindgren (Kraken)
Mason Lohrei (Bruins)
Ryan Ufko (Predators)

Forwards

Matthew Coronato (Flames)
Paul Cotter (Devils)
James Hagens (Bruins)
Isaac Howard (Oilers)
Sam Lafferty (Blackhawks)
Ryker Lee (Predators)
Ryan Leonard (Capitals)
Oliver Moore (Blackhawks)
Danny Nelson (Islanders)
Thomas Novak (Penguins)
Mathieu Olivier (Blue Jackets)
Max Plante (Red Wings)
Max Sasson (Canucks)
Matthew Tkachuk (Panthers)

As is often the case for these events, this roster has a mixture of veterans and youngsters.  Up front, Tkachuk leads the way as he looks to become the first American player to become part of the Triple Gold Club (World Juniors, Olympics, and World Championship).  A total of 30 players have accomplished that particular feat.

A lot of their forwards are on the younger side, however, including three who have yet to play in the pros: Plante, Nelson, and Lee.  All three are still playing collegiately with Plante being this year’s recipient of the Hobey Baker Award.  With Howard also on the roster, Team USA has the two most recent winners of the award.

Among their other forwards, there are a trio of players who surpassed the 40-point mark in the NHL this season: Coronato (45), Leonard (45), and Novak (42).  They will likely be counted on to play similar (if not slightly larger) roles in this event.

On the back end, Lohrei is the lone returnee from last year’s Gold-winning squad and he will be looking to bounce back after being healthy scratched at times in the opening round.  Faulk will be the veteran anchor of the group as the oldest player on the team and is participating in the event for the first time since 2015.  Meanwhile, Carlile will be participating in his first international event.

Between the pipes, Woll and Cooley (also in his first time representing his country) will likely battle for the starting job.  Woll had an injury-riddled season in Toronto while Cooley, in his first season as a full-time NHLer, was one of the top backups despite playing for a rebuilding Calgary squad.  Commesso, one of four players on this team with Olympic experience, seems likely to be the third-string option.

This group, led by former Buffalo head coach Don Granato, will kick off training camp in Mannheim, Germany, and will play the Germans in their first pre-tournament game on Sunday.