The success of the World Baseball Classic this spring has reignited the thirst for a best-on-best international men's ice hockey tournament.

We have not seen a World Cup of hockey since 2016, while NHL players have not participated in the Winter Olympics since the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. So it has been a while since we have seen something like that take place.

Just for fun, let's pretend for a little bit that there was going to be a World Cup of Hockey this year and what a Team USA roster might look like.

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This might be the deepest talent pool the Americans have had in years, if not ever, and it is loaded with stars at forward and in goal, with a couple of Norris Trophy-caliber defensemen to lead the blue line and a trio of outstanding goalies to back them all up.

 

The Forwards

  • First line: Matthew Tkachuk – Auston Matthews – Alex DeBrincat
     
  • Second line: Jason Robertson – Jack Hughes – Kyle Connor
     
  • Third line: Brady Tkachuk – Tage Thompson – Jake Guentzel
     
  • Fourth line: Johnny Gaudreau – Jack Eichel – Clayton Keller
     
  • Extras: J.T. Miller, Joe Pavelski

This group would be by far the strength of the roster, and would probably be the best overall position group outside of whatever forward combinations that Team Canada puts together.

The United States would be especially strong down the middle with Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes, Tage Thompson and Jack Eichel going four deep.

Matthews is the easy answer as the top center as he is one of the best goal scorers and offensive players in the league when he is 100 percent healthy. Behind him, Jack Hughes has rapidly blossomed into a superstar for the New Jersey Devils while Tage Thompson is a force a player that blends a nearly unmatched combination of imposing size and sublime scoring talent.

On the left side, the Tkachuk brothers, Matthew and Brady, are easy choices for spots on the top-three lines. Matthew is the perfect combination of skill, production, physical play and that little bit of an edge that makes him so absolutely infuriating to play against. Brady is just a slightly lesser version but still a sensational player in his own right. He is now a 30-goal winger and has scored at a point-per-game rate this season.

Things get a little thinner on the right side where Alex DeBrincat is a strong choice for top-line duty. We are also going to play Kyle Connor and Jake Guentzel on their offside to get more scoring punch in the lineup. Connor is not scoring at the same rate he did a year ago when he hit the 47-goal mark, but he is as steady of a 30-goal scorer as you will find in the league. He has averaged a 38-goal pace per 82 games since the start of the 2017-18 season.

Guentzel is known for riding shotgun next to Sidney Crosby for most of his career, but he is an outstanding player in his own right independent of his center. He deserve a spot on this roster.

Clayton Keller might be the most surprising name on the roster, but he has been a hidden gem in Arizona the past couple of years. Since the start of the 2021-22 season he has 64 goals, 79 assists and 143 total points in 141 regular season games played. That is a 37-goal, 83-point pace over 82 games without the luxury of having a legitimate top-line center to play alongside. Put him next to playmakers like Johnny Gaudreau and Jack Eichel and he could really excel.