Team Canada announced its final roster for the 2016 World Cup on Friday evening, adding seven names to the initial roster.
The players added to the roster are defensemen Brent Burns, Jake Muzzin and Alex Pietrangeo, as well as forwards Matt Duchene, Claude Giroux, Brad Marchand and Joe Thornton.
Here is a look at the complete roster for Team Canada.
The World Cup of hockey will take place this September in Toronto before the start of the 2016-17 season.
Forwards: Jamie Benn, Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Sidney Crosby, Matt Duchene*, Ryan Getzlaf, Claude Giroux*, Brad Marchand*, Tyler Seguin, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Joe Thornton*, Jonathan Toews
Defense: Brent Burns*, Drew Doughty, Duncan Keith, Jake Muzzin*, Alex Pietrangelo*, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Shea Weber
Goalies: Corey Crawford, Braden Holtby, Carey Price
Four things to know
1. Kris Letang and P.K. Subban did not make the roster. As is the case with most international teams the players that did not make the roster are almost as big of a story as the players that did make the team. In Canada's case, that would be on the blue line with P.K. Subban and Kris Letang, two of the best and most dynamic defensemen in the NHL.
It is pretty clear that hockey Canada is simply not a fan of Subban and there really isn't any other way to put it. He was an afterthought at the 2014 Olympics and after not being named to the initial roster for the World Cup, he did not make the final roster.
The thinking seems to be that Canada is trying to keep a balanced lineup of players that regularly play on the left and right side, which is how a player like Jake Muzzin gets a spot over players that are clearly superior.
2. The defense is still pretty great. As bizarre as it is to skip players like Letang and Subban, that is still a stacked blue line. Doughty and Vlasic might be two of the best shutdown defensemen in hockey, while Burns is as dominant as any blue liner in the league not named Erik Karlsson. And that does not even get into Duncan Keith who has been building a Hall of Fame resume during his career.
3. Joe Thornton is a worthy addition to a great forward group. After Joe Thornton was left off of the 2014 Olympic roster, he gets a well deserved spot on the World Cup team. Thornton, who will be 37 at the start of the tournament, will likely be one of the oldest players involved in the tournament but as he has shown this season is still one of the best players in the world. It's great to see him get another opportunity to play on the international stage.
It speaks volumes to how great this forward group is that players like Corey Perry and Taylor Hall can get left out. Unlike on defense where there is maybe a player or two that might seem out of place when compared to who was left off (Muzzin and perhaps Pietrangelo over Letang or Subban, example) there really isn't anything that seems like an obvious change. Seven of the top-14 goal scorers in the NHL from this season are on that roster, and unlike Team USA, they went for skill all the way around instead of grit and toughness.
4. The goaltending talent on this team is absurd. There really is not a bad choice here. Carey Price, when healthy, is probably the best goalie in the world right now, while Braden Holtby is probably going to win the Vezina Trophy this season. And oh, then there is Corey Crawford, a two-time Stanley Cup champion and a player that has become one of the best goalies in the league. If you were to pick out the top five or six goalies in the league right now, these three guys are probably in that group.
