Forwards (13)
Matt Boldy, Minnesota Wild
Cole Caufield, Montreal Canadiens
Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets
Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights*
Jake Guentzel, Tampa Bay Lightning
Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils
Clayton Keller, Utah Hockey Club
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs*
J.T. Miller, Vancouver Canucks
Jason Robertson, Dallas Stars
Tage Thompson, Buffalo Sabres
Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators
Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers*
There has been one change in our thinking for the U.S. forwards in the past month. Boldy made it in this time around, replacing Dylan Larkin, who was on the roster when we did this exercise in October. Boldy has been a big part of the Minnesota Wild’s strong first half. He gets to the net. He scores goals. He’s important on the power play. He’s responsible defensively. The U.S. roster already had Matthews, Eichel, Jack Hughes, Thompson and Miller as options to play center, so Boldy extends the depth on the wing. The only hiccup here is that this group of U.S. forwards is particularly left-handed heavy. The only righties on this roster are Eichel, Caufield and Thompson. Miller is a wild card, of course. He is on an indefinite leave of absence from the Vancouver Canucks for personal reasons. It’s unclear how that could impact his status for the final U.S. roster. – Rosen
