Canada has won three gold and two silver in the last six years of World Championship play, including gold last year thanks to an MVP performance from Andrew Mangiapane and a golden goal from Nick Paul, neither of whom will be in Helsinki. No matter. Canada has the depth to fill out an impressive roster all the same and has a world-class coach in Claude Julien behind the bench.

Goaltending

This might be the one area of worry for Canada as only one of the three goalies has international experience and two of the three only limited NHL play. Matt Tomkins was drafted a decade ago by Chicago but has yet to make it to the NHL. After graduating from Ohio State, he played four years in the minors and spent this past season with Frolunda in Sweden. That put him in a good situation for the Olympics, however, and he played in three of Canada’s five games in Beijing, winning two and allowing only three goals. The 25-year-old Logan Thompson was backup in Vegas this past season after working his way up through the minors over the last several years. After going undrafted during a career with Brandon in the WHL, he played university hockey at Brock before moving to the ECHL, AHL, and finally NHL. Chris Driedger, 27, has fought tooth and nail to get to the NHL, playing three games over as many seasons several years ago, going back to the minors, and playing his way back to the Show as backup in Florida and Seattle the last three years.

Defence

If you’re going to choose one player as your star defenceman, there aren’t too many names that would come ahead of 25-year-old Thomas Chabot. He led the NHL in average ice time this past regular season, a full minute ahead of Roman Josi (22:32 to 21:27 per game) and is one of the keys to Ottawa’s rise. No doubt coach Julien will give him plenty of ice time 5-on-5 as well as on special teams. This will be his third Worlds after 2018 and 2019, and he was named IIHF Directorate Best Defenceman at the 2017 World Juniors. The only other player on the back end with experience at the WM is Damon Severson, who played with the silver-medal team with Chabot in 2019. He had also won bronze at the 2012 U18. Travis Sanheim (Philadelphia) previously played at the 2014 U18 and the World Juniors two years later. Severson is one of two New Jersey Devils on the team, along with Ryan Graves, and Chabot’s Senators teammate Nick Holden, 34, is also with Canada and is the oldest player on the team. In all, this is a young, fast, and mobile group that will be able to contribute to the offence and move the puck out of harm’s way with speed.

Forward

An exciting group full of possibility and potential, these 14 players have energy, skill, and both youth and  experience. Where to start? Two players were with Tomkins in Beijing—20-year-old Kent Johnson and veteran Eric O’Dell. Johnson was teammates with Owen Power at the University of Michigan and was drafted 5th overall by Columbus last year when Power was selected first. Johnson had three assists in Beijing and later made his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets. He was also on the World Junior team last December and will be the first Canadian ever to play U20, OG, and WM in the same season. He is one of the brightest prospects in Helsinki and should be fun to watch. At the other end of the spectrum is 31-year-old O’Dell, who also played at the 2018 Olympics and has been in the KHL the last five seasons. Matt Barzal will turn 25 on quarter-finals day and is looking for his first senior medal after winning two bronze at the U18 and a World Junior silver in 2017. He has played his entire six-year career with the New York Islanders and is a skilled centreman. Drake Batherson won gold with Canada at the 2018 World Juniors, and the offense will get a significant jolt from Pierre-Luc Dubois who has won medals at U18, U20, and WM. He had 28 goals with the Winnipeg Jets this past season. The youth movement also includes three other young talents, namely almost-19-year-old Cole Sillinger (May 16), 20-year-old Dawson Mercer, and 21-year-old Dylan Cozens. These are fine young talents that will give Canada plenty of speed on the big ice of the Jaahalli. At 28, Josh Anderson of the Montreal Canadiens is one of the few veteran players, although his only international experience came back at the 2014 World Juniors.

Coaching

They don’t get any better than Claude Julien. He coached Canada at the 2000 World Juniors, led the Boston Bruins to a Stanley Cup in 2011, and was behind the bench in Beijing (after recovering from a fall during training camp that saw him arrive during late to the Olympics). He has experience and commands the respect of his players, and he brings the kind of leadership that is essential to bringing a team together quickly in a short event such as this.

Projected Results

Canada has never failed to make the playoffs at the World Championship – never, as in never – and with a youthful roster it will just be a question of how quickly they get to know each other and play cohesive hockey as a team. There is no question this group can and should win a medal; it’s only a matter of colour right now. But Canada fans should be looking forward to the next two weeks to see what will happen. Enjoy the ride!