PLYMOUTH, Mich. – The U.S. is now less than 24 hours away from selecting its roster for the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. There’s still some uncertainty in what that roster will look like, but with the emergence of special teams units and some five-on-five scrimmaging Friday, you can start to see things take shape even more.

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During Friday’s practice, Team USA broke up into smaller teams of white and blue for 20 minutes of five-on-five scrimmage.

The lines did not stay together long, but how they started may offer a glimpse into what Team USA is thinking in terms of role and spot in the lineup. 

Here is how the two teams lined up. 

Blue

Rutger McGroarty – Cutter Gauthier – Jimmy Snuggerud

Quinn Finley – Danny Nelson – James Hagens

William Whitelaw-(rotating center)- Gavin Hayes

Zeev Buium – Seamus Casey

Drew Fortescue – Eric Pohlkamp

Aram Minnetian

White

Gabe Perreault – Will Smith – Ryan Leonard

Isaac Howard – Frank Nazar – Gavin Brindley

Oilver Moore-(rotating center)-Carey Terrance

Ryan Chesley – Lane Hutson

Jake Livanavage – Sam Rinzel

Patrick Geary

Top Of The Lineup Set?

So what can be gleaned from that scrimmage lineup? 

You take everything at this stage with a grain of salt, but I think there is very little question at this point about what Team USA’s top nine forwards and top four defense will look like as we head into the tournament.

A lot of this is dependent on Rutger McGroarty’s health, as he remained in a non-contact jersey Friday. However, there’s growing optimism that he will be cleared and be part of the team, but until we know for sure, you have to put an asterisk by his name essentially.

If he’s healthy, though, this is what it appears likely to be in terms of top-nine, top-four.

McGroarty* – Gauthier – Snuggerud
Perreault – Smith – Leonard
Howard – Nazar – Brindley

Hutson – Chesley
Buium – Casey

We can probably say with confidence that all of those players will be there, assuming McGroarty is cleared. Additionally, this is what Team USA’s power-play units looked like during drills Friday.

Power Play Units

Lane Hutson (top), Gabe Perreault (bumper), Isaac Howard (left flank), Cutter Gauthier (right flank), Ryan Leonard (net-front)

Seamus Casey (top), Gavin Brindley (bumper), Jimmy Snuggerud (left flank), Will Smith (right flank), Danny Nelson (net-front)

USA also did some early practice with a third power-play unit that included Frank Nazar, Zeev Buium, Eric Pohlkamp, Carey Terrance and Rutger McGroarty, but that was likely just to get some various players looks on the advantage in case there needs to be tweaks.

Danny Nelson being consistently on a power play also likely locks him into a spot on Team USA’s roster as he has not moved from his net-front spot over either day of camp. That's a great sign for him.

I also don't really get the sense that Drew Fortescue is on the bubble as I believe he's more likely to be Team USA's third defenseman on the left side and will play in a penalty killing role. I don't think it's safe to call Fortescue a lock, but I would be surprised if he is not on the roster.

USA used a rotating cast of penalty killers, too, as just about everyone got a look and those positions still seem up for grabs at the moment, but I think Ryan Cesley and Drew Fortescue will be common PK stalwarts for USA.

Team USA’s staff has said their intention is to announce the roster for the team Saturday evening after the final day of practice. Head coach David Carle said Friday they are going to let those final decisions go down to the wire and keep the competition open before finalizing the last few spots that remain.

The Americans plan to take 25 players with them, but only 23 can be on the active roster at one time and players can only be replaced in the instance of injury or illness. Once they are replaced, they cannot come back to the active roster. The expectation is USA will travel with 14 forwards, eight defensemen and the three goaltenders who are already locked into the team.

Who Is On The Bubble?

With the players listed above, the bubble for making Team USA looks something like this, with two cuts to come on defense and two cuts to come at forward with one player from each position going to Sweden as "extras" and not on the active roster.

Forwards: James Hagens, Oliver Moore, Gavin Hayes, Carey Terrance, Quinn Finley and William Whitelaw.

Defense: Jake Livanavage, Aram Minnetian, Eric Pohlkamp, Sam Rinzel and Patrick Geary

James Hagens looked like a lock for Team USA this summer, but it’s getting harder to find out where he might fit with this team. Cutter Gauthier has gotten a lot of reps at center and that may ultimately be where he plays in the tournament. McGroarty’s health still leaves a top-six door open, though.

I still think there’s a spot for Hagens as a potential 13th forward as an option to plug in where USA may need more offense, but I also don’t think the U.S. is going to bring him just to bring him. If he's on the roster, they're going to want him to play. He's shown enough versatility to warrant inclusion and I thought he was much better on Day 2 than he was on Day 1. When I asked David Carle about Hagens' chances, he declined to be specific about individual players.

Meanwhile, Moore’s speed and tenacity makes him a legit PK option and he could be a solid fourth-liner or plug-and-play 13th forward who can slot in at various spots in the lineup.

Quinn Finley got a lot of run in Friday’s practice in penalty-kill situations and playing in more of a fourth-line style role. I thought he was a surprising add, but they’re giving him some leash to find a role here and he’s doing what he can to fill it.

Gavin Hayes is another player that has a legit shot at that fourth-line role. We’ve seen him on the PK and he could be a net-front power play option, though USA has not been testing him in that slot much. The one concern with Hayes is that he doesn’t have the same pace as some of the other forwards, but he's got the size and heaviness USA lacks throughout a lot of its lineup.

Carey Terrance has great speed and tenacity, but it’s been harder for him to stand out and he’s in a position where it’s just difficult to find a set fit for him. He’s eligible for next year’s team still, too. I like the player an awful lot, I just have a hard time seeing the fit. 

William Whitelaw appears to be more on the outside looking in at this point as there doesn’t seem to be a defined role for him in any one way. He’s still eligible to play in this event next season and I’d expect we see him then. But he's not out of it until the roster is announced.

The blue line is where things get really tricky.

My sense is that it is ultimately going to come down to Jake Livanavage, Sam Rinzel and Eric Pohlkamp to decide who will be USA’s No. 6 and 7 defensemen and which one of these three will be the extra. That decision could come down to the wire and gets even tougher if Aram Minnetian has done enough to play his way into consideration. Minnetian's emergence definitely puts a little bit more heat on fellow right-shots Rinzel and Pohlkamp. 

Minnetian has actually looked really good in camp, but I wonder with his probably having to sit out a game due to suspension takes him out of the discussion. We’ll see, though. I’ve really liked his pace and his defending here. 

Patrick Geary was a PK option on defense, but I don’t know that we’ve seen enough from him to knock out the other options.

My guess is USA is going to go four left-shot D and four right-shot D for their group, with one of those being the extra defenseman, but that's only a guess. It's a pretty big decision as USA's blue line is its lightest position, though one they still view as a strength of the team.