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USA Hockey Adds Tyler Kleven To World Championship Roster

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After a 2-0 start to the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship, USA Hockey announced after today’s win against Hungary they’ve added Ottawa Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven to their tournament roster.

Kleven, who registered two assists in eight games down the stretch of the 2022-23 season with Ottawa, could suit up when the United States faces Germany in continued round-robin play tomorrow. The 21-year-old second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft signed his entry-level contract with Ottawa after the end of his junior season at the University of North Dakota.

While this will be Kleven’s first World Championship appearance, he’s no stranger to the United States national program. He played with the National Team Development Program for two seasons before joining North Dakota in 2020-21 and played for Team USA at the 2021 and 2022 IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship, recording one point in a combined seven games between tournaments.

Kleven brings an added layer of size and physicality to the American roster, becoming the third defender on the team who stands at least 6-foot-4 and weighs 200 pounds (Nicklaus Perbix, Dylan Samberg). A defensive player first and foremost, Kleven will try and shut down some of the tougher opponents remaining on the Americans’ group schedule, namely Germany and Sweden.

USA Hockey Announces First 22 Players For 2023 Worlds

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The first 22 players that will compete for Team USA at the upcoming IIHF World Hockey Championship have been named, with an interesting mix of NHL experience and college excitement.

Lane Hutson is the youngest player in the group at just 19 years old, and he’ll be sharing the ice with 35-year-old Nick Bonino, the oldest. General manager Chris Clark released the following:

The depth of our player pool is reflected with our team and we’re excited about the group we have to represent our country at the world championship. We’ve got a great mix of experience and youth and most of our players have represented the U.S. before and know what it takes to be successful at a world championship.

The team will start training on Saturday in Munich, before a pre-tournament game on Tuesday. The tournament schedule for the U.S. begins next Friday, against Finland.

Here’s a look at the 22 players that have made the team so far:

G Casey DeSmith
G Drew Commesso
G Cal Petersen

D Henry Thrun
D Connor Mackey
D Ronnie Attard
D Dylan Samberg
D Scott Perunovich
D Lane Hutson
D Nick Perbix

F Samuel Walker
F Drew O’Connor
F Luke Tuch
F Nick Bonino
F T.J. Tynan
F Cutter Gauthier
F Sean Farrell
F Anders Bjork
F Matthew Coronato
F Conor Garland
F Alex Tuch
F Carter Mazur

Team USA Announces 2023 World Juniors Roster

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With the World Juniors rapidly approaching, Team USA needed to make a final round of cuts to prepare its 25-man WJC roster. With Ryan Leonard, Jack Devine, Shai Buium, and Tyler Muszelik sent home, the 25-man roster has been settled. Team USA will begin their tournament taking on Latvia on December 26th. The players are as follows:

Goaltenders (3)

Trey Augustine – 2023 Draft Eligible

Kaidan Mbereko – 2023 Draft Eligible

Andrew Oke – 2023 Draft Eligible

Defensemen (8)

Sean Behrens –  (COL)

Seamus Casey – (NJD)

Ryan Chesley – (WSH)

Luke Hughes – (NJD)

Lane Hutson – (MTL)

Luke Mittelstadt – 2023 Draft Eligible

Jack Peart – (MIN)

Ryan Ufko – (NSH)

Forwards (14)

Jackson Blake – (CAR)

Gavin Brindley – 2023 Draft Eligible

Tyler Boucher – (OTT)

Kenny Connors – (LAK)

Logan Cooley – (ARZ)

Dylan Duke – (TBL)

Cutter Gauthier – (PHI)

Noah Laba – (NYR)

Sam Lipkin – (ARZ)

Chaz Lucius – (WPG)

Rutger McGroarty – (WPG)

Red Savage – (DET)

Jimmy Snuggerud – (STL)

Charlie Stramel – 2023 Draft Eligible

This team is likely to be highlighted by a first line comprised entirely of highly-drafted NHL prospects. The trio of top 2022 picks  Gauthier, Cooley, and Snuggerud could be a treat to watch, and the Americans’ depth at forward combined with their talented blueliners such as Hughes, Hutson, and Chesley should make this team a strong contender for a medal. While the situation in the crease is a bit less stable, the WJC will provide twice-undrafted goalie Mbereko a major stage to showcase why he should be picked next year.

USA Hockey Announces Preliminary 2023 WJC Roster

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The 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship is rapidly approaching, with things set to kick off on the afternoon of December 26 with a match between Switzerland and Finland. Team USA will start their tournament later that day against Latvia. Today, the organization released the preliminary roster for the upcoming camp.

The group will be pared down closer to the tournament but currently includes:

F Jackson Blake (CAR 109th overall, 2021)
F Gavin Brindley (2023 draft eligible)
F Tyler Boucher (OTT 10th overall, 2021)
F Kenny Connors (LAK 103rd overall, 2022)
F Logan Cooley (ARI 3rd overall, 2022)
F Jack Devine (FLA 221st overall, 2022)
F Dylan Duke (TBL 126th overall, 2021)
F Cutter Gauthier (PHI 5th overall, 2022)
F Noah Laba (NYR 111th overall, 2022)
F Ryan Leonard (2023 draft eligible)
F Samuel Lipkin (ARI 223rd overall, 2021)
F Chaz Lucius (WPG 18th overall, 2021)
F Cameron Lund (SJS 34th overall, 2022)
F Rutger McGroarty (WPG 14th overall, 2022)
F Red Savage (DET 114th overall, 2021)
F Will Smith (2023 draft eligible)
F Jimmy Snuggerud (STL 23rd overall, 2022)
F Charlie Stramel (2023 draft eligible)

D Sean Behrens (COL 61st overall, 2021)
D Shai Buium (DET 36th overall, 2021)
D Seamus Casey (NJD 46th overall, 2022)
D Ryan Chesley (WSH 37th overall, 2022)
D Aidan Hreschuk (CBJ 94th overall, 2021)
D Luke Hughes (NJD 4th overall, 2021)
D Lane Hutson (MTL 62nd overall, 2022)
D Luke Mittelstadt (undrafted)
D Jack Peart (MIN 54th overall, 2021)
D Ryan Ufko (NSH 115th overall, 2021)

G Trey Augustine (2023 draft eligible)
G Kaidan Mbereko (undrafted)
G Tyler Muszelik (FLA 189th overall, 2022)
G Andrew Oke (undrafted)

The camp will be held in Plymouth, Michigan between December 12-17, at which point a 23-man roster will be selected.

USA Hockey Names Chris Clark GM Of 2023 National Team

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After a disappointing fourth-place finish at this year’s World Championship, USA Hockey has made some changes for next year. Chris Clark, director of player personnel for the Columbus Blue Jackets, will take over as general manager, replacing Ryan Martin who served in the role for just one tournament.

Supporting Clark, who is still relatively young in his front office executive career, will be an advisory group that brings a ton of experience. Kevyn Adams, Chris Drury, Tom Fitzgerald, Mike Grier, Bill Guerin, Lou Lamoriello, Chris MacFarland, Don Waddell, and Bill Zito will all be there to help in the player selection process.

John Vanbiesbrouck, assistant executive director of USA Hockey, released a statement explaining the choice:

We’re excited to have Chris leading efforts in building the roster for our team. He knows the player pool extremely well, and as someone who has played at the highest levels of the game and is now in a management role in the NHL. He is well versed in what it takes to win.

Clark has served as general manager of the Cleveland Monsters for the past several seasons and played 11 seasons in the NHL. In fact, he has experience playing the international tournament, even captaining Team USA in 2007.

After his retirement, he joined the Blue Jackets first as a scout, then in the player development department, before receiving his current position in 2019. This appointment is another step on what looks to be a future-GM track, one very similar to the path Drury took over the last several years.

Taylor Heise Named 2022 Women’s World Championship MVP

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Despite losing 2-1 in the gold medal game to Canada today, a breakout member for Team USA has taken home the MVP award for the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship. Taylor Heise, a collegiate player from the University of Minnesota, won the award after leading the tournament in scoring with 18 points in seven games.

Heise is returning to Minnesota next season for her fifth and final year in the program. As an alternate captain last season, Heise exploded for 29 goals, 37 assists, and 66 points in just 39 games. Minnesota was the number 2 ranked program in the country at season’s end but lost in the NCAA quarterfinals to state rival Duluth.

Heise also won the Directorate Award for best forward at the tournament. USA goaltender Nicole Hensley and Czech defender Daniela Pejsova won their respective positional awards. Hensley finished the tournament with a 4-1-0 record, .930 save percentage, and 1.08 goals-against average in five games, while Pesjova finished with five goals, four assists, and nine points in six games en route to Czechia earning their first medal at the tournament.

Team USA Announces 2022 World Juniors Roster

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The World Juniors are a little under 48 hours away and slated to kick off their tournament Tuesday night at 10:00 pm ET, Team USA had to make its final round of cuts for the tournament. Today they did just that, USA Hockey announcing its final roster for the tournament, cutting two players to bring the group down to 25. Frank Nazar (CHI) and Aiden Hreschuk (CBJ) were the final two players cut from the USA roster. The final group is as follows:

Goaltenders

Remington Koepple (2023 draft eligible)

Kaidan Mbereko (2023 draft eligible)

Andrew Oke (2023 draft eligible)

Defensemen

Sean Behrens (COL)

Brock Faber (MIN)

Luke Hughes (NJD)

Wyatt Kaiser (CHI)

Tyler Kleven (OTT)

Ian Moore (ANA)

Jack Peart (MIN)

Jacob Truscott (VAN)

Forwards

Brett Berard (NYR)

Thomas Bordeleau (SJS)

Logan Cooley (ARZ)

Matt Coronato (CGY)

Riley Duran (BOS)

Dominic James (CHI)

Matt Knies (TOR)

Carter Mazur (DET)

Hunter McKown (2023 draft eligible)

Sasha Pastujov (ANA)

Mackie Samoskevich (FLA)

Red Savage (DET)

Landon Slaggert (CHI)

Charlie Stramel (2023 draft eligible)

Of note for this USA team, it features 17 of the 25 players who were on the roster for the original 2022 WJC before it was ultimately cancelled and postponed due to COVID-19. Four of these 25, including Berard, Faber, Kleven, and Slaggert, were also on the 2021 team that won Gold. Team USA General Manager John Vanbiesbrouck had this to say about the difficult selection process:

“We had a great week of camp followed by a pair of good pre-tournament games to help us finalize our roster. We had some spots to fill from December and we filled them in well. These are hard decisions, but we believe these are the 25 best players to achieve our goal.”

Team USA’s coaching staff is made up of Head Coach Nate Leaman, Assistant Coaches Grant Potulny, Kris Mayotte, and Steve Miller, as well as Video Coach Theresa Feaster. The team will be captained by Faber, along with alternate captains in Bordeleau and Slaggert. USA will open the tournament with a preliminary round game against Germany Tuesday evening at 10:00 pm ET at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, where the entire tournament is being held.

USA Hockey Trims World Junior Roster

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With the 2022 World Juniors now less than two weeks away, hockey federations are in the process of trimming down or setting their rosters for the tournament.  USA Hockey is the latest to do so, officially announcing that their current roster for the upcoming tournament is as follows:

Goaltenders

Remington Koepple (2023 draft eligible)

Kaidan Mbereko (2023 draft eligible)

Andrew Oke (2023 draft eligible)

Defensemen

Sean Behrens (COL)

Brock Faber (MIN)

Aidan Hreschuk (CBJ)

Luke Hughes (NJD)

Wyatt Kaiser (CHI)

Tyler Kleven (OTT)

Ian Moore (ANA)

Jack Peart (MIN)

Jacob Truscott (VAN)

Forwards

Brett Berard (NYR)

Thomas Bordeleau (SJS)

Logan Cooley (ARZ)

Matt Coronato (CGY)

Riley Duran (BOS)

Dominic James (CHI)

Matt Knies (TOR)

Carter Mazur (DET)

Hunter McKown (2023 draft eligible)

Frank Nazar (CHI)

Sasha Pastujov (ANA)

Mackie Samoskevich (FLA)

Red Savage (DET)

Landon Slaggert (CHI)

Charlie Stramel (2023 draft eligible)

With this trimmed roster, there are a few notable cuts, quality prospects for NHL organizations who didn’t quite make it for this tournament. One thing to note is that many national hockey bodies are prioritizing older players in this rescheduled WJC, as this tournament is the final chance for quite a few players to represent their country at the junior level.

A few notable names among the players who were cut from the evaluation camp roster include recent second-round defensemen Ryan Chesley (WSH), Seamus Casey (NJD), and Lane Hutson (MTL). Among forwards, a few quality prospects missed the cut, including a 2021 top-ten pick in Tyler Boucher (OTT), a few 2022 top picks in Cutter Gauthier (PHI), Issac Howard (TBL), Rutger McGroarty (WPG), and Jimmy Snuggerud (STL). Second-rounders Jack Hughes (LAK), Josh Doan (ARZ), and Cam Lund (SJS) also missed the cut.

There are quite a few top prospects remaining on this team, though, including Nazar, the 2022 13th overall pick, Hughes, the 2021 fourth-overall pick, and Cooley, the 2022 third-overall pick. The Americans still have some outstanding cuts to make, but the bulk of their roster-trimming business is now done.

Snapshots: Gaudreau, Sharks, Russia

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With just under two weeks now to go until the start of free agency, extensions are beginning to come in left and right as teams try to lock down players and get a better idea of their salary cap situation. One of the most highly-touted forwards on the market, if not the most highly-touted, is still without a contract, though: Calgary Flames left wing, Johnny Gaudreau. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that the Flames have offered him an eight-year extension worth a total of $76MM, or $9.5MM per season, and it’s still on the table.

If Gaudreau accepts the offer, it would certainly be a “win-now” discount as the Flames enter a tricky cap situation. After a 115-point season, the 28-year-old winger is in prime earning territory and could likely fetch eight figures on the open market with that kind of production. It seems unlikely he’d accept the offer, but only time will tell.

  • San Jose Sharks interim general manager Joe Will confirmed today that forward prospects William Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau have permission from the team to head to the 2022 World Junior Championship in August. Eklund is very likely the best player Sweden has to offer at the tournament, and he finished the abbreviated tournament in January with three assists in two games. Bordeleau will also join Team USA in all likelihood for his first WJC under an NHL contract.
  • Michael Russo and Dan Robson of The Athletic highlight the challenges that Russian NHLers may face returning to North America this offseason. The piece comes as Philadelphia Flyers prospect Ivan Fedotov was detained earlier today when trying to leave the country. With the potential of visa laws and exceptions on the United States’ side changing prior to the season, it could pose additional complications for Russian players to enter and play inside the United States, adding to league general managers’ growing concern that Russian players might not be available for next season. While Russo and Robson note that it’s still an extremely unlikely scenario, it’s one worth keeping an eye on as the offseason chugs along.

Overseas Notes: Blankenburg, Verbeek, Merkulov

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Nick Blankenburg’s World Championship is over. Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch reports that the Blue Jackets’ rookie defenseman has left Team USA due to injury. Blankenburg sustained a knee injury during the international tournament in Finland and decided to return home. However, Hedger adds that the injury is not supposed to be severe and that Blankenburg’s health by the start of next season is not in doubt. Even with the early exit from the Worlds, Blankenburg has had quite the unforgettable year. The 24-year-old defender had a career season as the senior captain of Michigan, recording 14 goals and 29 points in 38 games en route to a Frozen Four appearance. He then signed with Columbus as an undrafted free agent and proceeded to record three points in seven NHL games down the stretch. Blankenburg earned a spot with Team USA at the World Championship and played in four games with the team. He will look to continue his success streak by winning a regular role with the Blue Jackets next season.

  • Hayden Verbeek’s uncle may be the new GM of the Anaheim Ducks, but the young forward won’t wait around for NHL free agency in hopes of a family deal on a new contract. Verbeek has opted to leave North America altogether and sign a one-year deal with Slovakian club HK Spisska Nova Ves, the team announced. Verbeek is no stranger to Slovakia, having played in the Extraliga early in 2020-21 while awaiting the delayed AHL season. While Verbeek played exclusively in the AHL after returning last year, he did spend some time in the ECHL this season, which could have been the deciding factor in his move overseas. Four seasons into his pro career, including the first three on an NHL contract, Verbeek has played largely in the AHL but has been demoted to the ECHL in three seasons and has seen no NHL action. Looking for a more consistent role in a top league, Verbeek will try his hand again in Slovakia next season.
  • When Georgi Merkulov, a star prospect out of the MHL, left Russia in 2020 to embark on a development path in North America with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms and then the NCAA’s Ohio State Buckeyes, the odds that he would one day star in the KHL slipped. Then-rights holder HK Sochi decided to trade Merkulov to Amur Khabarovsk, doubting that he would ever suit up for the team. When Merkulov surprisingly turned pro after just one college season, signing with the Boston Bruins this spring, those odds fell even further. Amur has now decided to move on as well. KHL powerhouse CKSA Moscow, whose youth system Merkulov developed in, has decided to take a long-term gamble, acquiring the rights to their former prospect, per the KHL. In exchange, Amur received minor league defenseman Ilya Dervuk. Merkulov recorded 20 goals and 34 points in 38 games this season for Ohio State as one of the top freshmen in the NCAA and then added five points in eight AHL games with the Providence Bruins. Boston certainly hopes that this scoring prowess translates to the NHL and that these KHL trades are ultimately meaningless.

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