Boeser snubbed but four Canucks players make 4 Nations rosters

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It doesn’t appear like Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser will be on Team USA when the roster is revealed later today.

Canucks players J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes are expected to make the American team, but Boeser is not likely to join them per CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal.

A full projection of Team USA’s roster, which is likely correct, was posted by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. It had Miller and Hughes but no Boeser.

Boeser was widely viewed as being on the bubble to make Team USA and it seems like he came up short. He scored 40 goals last season, has strong chemistry with J.T. Miller, and has developed into an impressive two-way player, but that still wasn’t enough to crack a deep roster.

Hughes has already been named to Team USA and Miller will likely join him this afternoon. USA Hockey expects Miller to play in February despite being away from hockey right now on personal leave, per Andy Strickland.

Boeser had a solid case to make the team. He’s fifth among all Americans in goals since the start of last year and 18th in points. He’s also fifth in average ice-time among American right wingers across that same time frame.

Just because Boeser didn’t make the initial roster doesn’t mean there’s zero chance he’ll end up skating in the best-on-best tournament. Teams are allowed to replace injured players before the tournament starts. If the Americans lose a winger before February, Boeser will definitely be at least considered as a replacement.

Boeser isn’t the only Canucks player who could be substituted in as a replacement. Dhaliwal also reported Thatcher Demko is on USA Hockey’s radar and could suit up if they need another goalie in February, assuming that Demko has returned to full health then.

The tournament begins on February 12, and the final will occur in Boston on February 20.

Pettersson, Lankinen make it too

Kevin Lankinen and Elias Pettersson were named to Team Finland and Team Sweden respectively this morning.

Lankinen was one of the three goalies taken by Finland and while he’s expected to start as the backup, if he continues to play like he has so far this season, it’ll be hard to deny him the net.

Pettersson has come alive for the Canucks across the past few weeks and is expected to be a top-six centre for Sweden at the tournament.

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