NHL teams
Pierre LeBrun, ESPN Senior Writer 7y

Projected Team Canada roster for the 2018 Winter Olympics

NHL

Should the NHL acquiesce, Team Canada will have a chance to carry its 16-game, best-on-best win streak into South Korea a year from now -- and how much fun would that be? Sidney Crosby's gang swept through the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the World Cup of Hockey with a 12-0-0 cumulative record, and would look to continue that perfection in 12 months. Let's pretend the folks at Hockey Canada fell on their heads and named me GM for the Olympic team. Here's how I would pick the roster today:


Forwards

MarchandCrosbyBergeron

Brad Marchand - Sidney Crosby - Patrice Bergeron

Other lines: 

Jamie Benn - Connor McDavid - Steven Stamkos

John Tavares - Jonathan Toews - Jeff Carter

Matt Duchene - Mark Scheifele - Nathan MacKinnon

Jonathan Drouin

The big ice had a huge impact on how I picked these forwards, led by Sidney Crosby between Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. It meant keeping off a Mike Babcock favorite and longtime Team Canada mainstay in Ryan Getzlaf, but between his age and lack of pace, I'm comfortable doing that. It also meant keeping off World Cup players Ryan O'Reilly, Corey Perry, Logan Couture and future Hall of Famer Joe Thornton. I want a speedy team in South Korea. And an injection of youth, too, so I say welcome to Mark Scheifele, Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin and, of course, Connor McDavid. It's a surprise that I left off big names Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin, and those guys might be on my next version of this team. Hey, it's Team Canada -- great players get left off. I don't have Claude Giroux in this group, but I think he can work his way back in with a strong ending to the season. I like his ability to have an impact on the bigger ice in South Korea. OK, I went off the board by including Drouin as my 13th forward, but I love his speed and creativity on the bigger international ice. One final thought: Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Mitch Marner -- imagine more space on the ice for him -- could work his way into this conversation if he continues on his arc. Remember that thought.


Defensemen

KeithDoughty

Duncan Keith - Drew Doughty

Other defensemen:

Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Brent Burns

Kris Letang - Shea Weber

Alex Pietrangelo

Three young studs working their way into this mix? Aaron Ekblad, Colton Parayko and Morgan Rielly. Rielly is a natural lefty and we all know of the concerns with Canada's left side. If Mike Babcock returns as coach, you know how much having that left-right balance will matter to him. Duncan Keith better be healthy this time! But I'm banking on either Alex Pietrangelo switching over to the left side again here, like he did in the World Cup, or the newcomer Kris Letang. I really want Letang on this team for his skating and vision on the bigger ice. A big finish for the Nashville Predators will help P.K. Subban get back on the radar, too.


Goalies

PriceHoltbyDubnyk

Carey Price - Braden Holtby - Devan Dubnyk

Remember when Canadians were fretting about the state of their goaltending? Depth is back -- I even had to leave off Corey Crawford and Martin Jones. By the time Team Canada gets to South Korea, perhaps Braden Holtby will have a Stanley Cup ring and Devan Dubnyk a Vezina Trophy. But it's hard to fathom Carey Price not keeping his title as No. 1. Don't be surprised if Jones works his way into the top three within the next 10 months.

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