Free washer | The threat of Bill Guerin

If Cole Caufield ever dreams of representing the United States at the Four Nations Tournament in 2025 and at the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy, he is recommended to extend his season and participate in the World Championship.

The CEO of the American team ahead of the Four Nations Tournament and the Olympics, Bill Guerin, used the strong method to build the best possible team this spring: threat.

“There are players assured of their place (for the Olympics and the Four Nations Tournament), but others are knocking at the door, he confided this week to the colleague of the site The Athletic, Michael Russo, assigned also on the cover of the Minnesota Wild, of which Bill Guerin is the general manager.

“If you haven’t played in the playoffs or any meaningful games in a while, or ever, I want to see you in action. How committed are you? If a trip to the Caribbean is more important than the World Championship, you’re not really committed. Our player pool is now large. I don’t want to make any promises, but I want to see committed players. I know there will be players injured, others will get married or see their children born, but what if that’s not the case? »

We can understand Guerin’s position. Even if the Americans could have in 2023 a large pool of important players among the sixteen clubs excluded from the playoffs, then four other clubs eliminated in the first round, they were able to count on a handful of established players in the NHL, Alex Tuch , Conor Garland, Nick Bonino, Casey DeSmith, among others. Tuch was the only impact player in the group.

General manager Chris Clark had to supplement his training with players from the NCAA and the American League, including three players from the Canadian organization, Sean Farrell, Lane Hutson and Luke Tuch, brother of Alex.

It will be interesting to see if Bill Guerin’s statements will have repercussions on the Canadian team. Canada’s general manager of training, Doug Armstrong, no longer even has to swing the stick, Guerin has done the work for him.

Canada suffered a little less than the United States last year, with the presence of Tyler Toffoli, MacKenzie Weegar, Lawson Crouse, Tyler Myers, Scott Laughton and a young lead, Adam Fantilli. But we still found several non-established players, among them defender Justin Barron, today with the Laval Rocket. This Championship nevertheless allowed goalkeeper Samuel Montembeault to stand out and gain confidence.

Among the Americans at CH, we of course include Caufield, injured at the same time last year, but also Jordan Harris, Jayden Struble, goalkeeper Cayden Primeau and Lane Hutson, of course. Struble could join the Rocket if the team manages to qualify for the playoffs, but the other three would benefit from important experience for their development.

On the Canadian side, this would be a great opportunity for Nick Suzuki, Mike Matheson and Samuel Montembeault to showcase themselves. They fall into the category of players who would benefit from getting closer to the Canadian organization.

We could add the names of Kaiden Guhle in a longer term perspective, and perhaps also Alex Newhook, although the latter, unless there is an offensive explosion in the coming seasons, will not have what it takes to compete with the MacKinnons, McDavids, Bedards, Points and Marners of this world.

Otherwise, we should not be surprised to see Juraj Slafkovsky representing Slovakia, if he is not obviously nursing an injury, and perhaps also his young compatriot Filip Mesar, a first round choice for CH in 2022 whose development is not does not follow the expected curve, however.

David Reinbacher will most likely represent Austria, barring an interesting breakthrough from the Laval Rocket in the playoffs, and Joel Armia could accept Finland’s invitation again for a third consecutive year.

Adam Engström’s arrival in Laval will have to wait

A win or two less with Rögle, in Sweden, and left-handed defenseman Adam Engström, 20, a third-round pick of the Canadian in 2022, would already be in Laval with the Rocket.

But not only did Rögle enter the playoffs through the back door, the team eliminated Timra in the first round and then just swept the best team in the country, Farjestads, in four consecutive games!

Engström is employed in the team’s third pair of defenders with a former Canadian, Brandon Davidson, and plays approximately 18 minutes per game. He had two assists in six games. The big revelation on defense is Lian Bischel, 19, a first round pick of the Dallas Stars, 18^e in total, in 2022. This 6-foot-6, 233-pound Swiss defender is not an asset offensively, but he has a determining role defensively and plays between 20 and 23 minutes in the second pair.

Engström may run out of time to join Laval, but he will sign a contract with the Canadiens at the conclusion of the season and take part in the team’s training camp in September.