If Team USA goes down in flames at the upcoming Minalo-Cortina Olympic Games their general manager, Bill Guerin, who also has a day job running the Minnesota Wild, is going to catch a lot of heat for his roster decisions. While the decision to leave off younger players like Jason Robertson and Cole Caufield in lieu of veterans like J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck, Guerin’s home-grown picks won’t elicit much complaint.
The Wild’s GM selected forward Matt Boldy along with defensemen Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes to represent the Red, White, and Blue in the upcoming international tournament. All three were expected to make the team as Boldy and Faber were part of the US roster for last season’s 4 Nations Face-Off while an injury kept Hughes out (and was part of the reason they finished second to Canada).
Boldy leads all US-born forwards with 25 goals and had a goal and two assists in four games at the 4 Nations last year. He’ll likely be part of the top line for the Americans as they seek their first Olympic gold medal since 1980. With Guerin choosing to add some role players like Trocheck to the roster, it will be important for Boldy to provide offense for Team USA as the tournament progresses.
On the defensive side, head coach Mike Sullivan might just role Hughes and Faber out as a pairing. In Hughes’ nine games with the Wild, the duo have spent 162 minutes together at 5v5 and have carried the play as Minnesota has a 60.04% edge in expected goals when they’re on the ice.
Prior to officially releasing the roster, Guerin spoke with The Athletic about how the roster was constructed, mentioning that his goal was to build a team, not just to throw the best offensive players out on the ice,
“I’m a firm believer in building a team. It’s not like we’re gonna go out and take a bunch of fourth liners. You know what I mean? These are all very good players. But you need players to play a role. You need your top players to be able to check.”
He is well acquainted with the roles that Boldy, Faber, and Hughes (who was named to the team in the summer when he was still with Vancouver) play for the Wild and is confident that they can help the team win.
If the United States falls short, well, he can live with that too,
“All I care about is the team. I have a job to do, I’m doing it to the best of my ability. If I’m right, I’m right. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong, and we think we have put together the best team we can to help bring us a gold medal.”