The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton posted a column in which he discusses whether members of the Red Wings’ current roster might make the cuts of international teams, should the NHL ever allow its players to engage in World Cup or Olympic competitions again. His “locks” are, well, “locks”:
Dylan Larkin, C, Team USA: Historically, men’s American hockey has struggled to produce great centermen. Team USA has had its fair share of great goaltenders, defenders, and wingers, but elite American pivots have been fewer and farther between.
The present generation of men’s American hockey doesn’t suffer from that problem. Between Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Jack Hughes, and Tage Thompson, there is no shortage of quality options down the middle for Team USA.
Still, despite that competition, Larkin should be a lock for the Americans, and his two-way play is his differentiating factor. He may not be able to run and gun with a Jack Hughes or even a Tage Thompson, but his 200-foot reliability will be irresistible to whoever winds up the American coach at this hypothetical competition.
Moritz Seider, D, Germany: Seider is the surest bet of any Red Wing to make his country’s hypothetical international best-on-best tournament. There is no German Olympic team that doesn’t feature Mo Seider in a starring role.
Since there’s not much to discuss with regards to his candidacy, I’d rather focus on the fact that Germany offers a great case as to the value of international hockey. As a hockey country on the rise, Germany can’t match the depth of a Sweden, Canada, or USA team, but, between Seider, Leon Draisaitl, and Tim Stutzle, the Germans don’t want for star power.
Getting the chance to see a group with those three at the tip of the spear compete with the traditional powers would be a wonderful feature of any potential men’s best-on-best in the coming years, and those players deserve the chance to re-establish Germany’s place in the men’s international heap.
