Four Golden Knights projected to make Team Canada

   

NHL.com recently released its final projections on who will make Team Canada for the Four Nations Face-Off in February, and four Vegas Golden Knights were selected.

Forward Mark Stone, defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore, and goalie Adin Hill were selected by NHL.com to represent their country in the exhibition series that begins Feb. 12 and through Feb. 20.

The official rosters will be announced Dec. 4.

Stone was the lone forward selection. He has 21 points in 13 games this season; he’s missed the last nine with a lower-body injury.

Stone is one of the better two-way forwards in the NHL, and him making Team Canada wouldn’t surprise anyone. The issue will be his health. He is an important piece to the Golden Knights roster, and playing extra games would put him at risk of injury, but that’s a concern regardless of player given this format.

Pietrangelo and Theodore were the two blue liners selected to the team. Pietrangelo has experience playing with the senior team, having won a gold medal in 2014 Olympic Games and the 2016 World Championships. His experience would be vital to a Team Canada team.

Additionally, pairing him with Theodore would be a great situation as the Golden Knights have paired them together before. Theodore, who is more known for his offensive game, would complement the Canadian roster by giving another solid blue line threat.

Hill was always on the radar for Team Canada, but after early struggles seems to have found his form and should be selected as one of Canada’s goalies. Coincidentally enough, NHL.com has his former teammate Logan Thompson as also making the team, giving Canada the 1-2 combo of Thompson and Hill that the Golden Knights deployed last season.