With the deadline for Olympic rosters only a day away, GMs and coaches should have their final evaluations on who they will be taking to Italy. Six players from each country were named during the offseason, and we will soon find out the rest.
For the Flyers, they already know one player who will be suiting up for their country. Rodrigo Abols will represent Latvia, something he is quite familiar with. Dating back to 2012-13, Abols has been a huge part of the Latvian roster and has been on the Olympic roster before. He has seen more success in Olympic qualifying games, but has overall been a solid piece to Latvia's squad.
He isn't likely to be the only Flyers' player heading to Italy in February.
Dan Vladar
Lukas Dostal was already named to Czechia's roster and returned from injury earlier this month. He's likely to be the starting goaltender, but when you compare the numbers, Vladar has had the better season thus far. Both have played in a similar number of games, with Dostal appearing in 23 to Vladar in 22. The latter has the better numbers in both save percentage and goals against average.
Diving deeper, among goaltenders to have played over 1,300 minutes, Vladar has a top-10 GSAA at 6.43, meaning he's saved nearly seven more goals than expected. Dostal is 17th at -2.56. Another area Vladar has the edge in is high-danger save percentage and the subsequent above expected category. Vladar is even better in that situation, sitting just outside of the top-five at .840, while Dostal is third from the bottom at .772. Dostal is second to last with a -7.31 HDGSAA, while Vladar is eighth with a 4.15 HDGSAA.
Vladar has a case to be the starting goaltender for Czechia, but at the very least, he should find his name on the final roster. It will be a nice honor for a goaltender who has surprised many this season.
Rasmus Ristolainen
Despite an injury that cost him the opening months of the season, Rasmus Ristolainen hasn't missed much of a beat. And due to the limited amount of NHL talent to choose from, he should find himself heading to Italy with Finland. Of course, Jere Lehtinen could look outside the league for other talent.
Ristolainen was slated to play for the Finns at the 4 Nations before an injury knocked him out of contention. His past medical history could be an issue, but again, it's not as if there is a ton of talent to choose from. Another factor that will go in Ristolainen's favor is the choice to field a "defense-first" squad.
Ristolainen provides the size and physicality on the backend behind the offensive talent likely to be on Finland's top pair. He hasn't represented Finland since 2016 and also scored the golden goal for his country at the 2014 World Juniors. His experience is also a plus, as he will hit the 800-game mark just before the Olympics.
Travis Sanheim
Looking at projected rosters amongst media members, many don't have Sanheim on the final roster. Some have named him, but only as an extra. And maybe it's a Philadelphia bias, but it seems hard to believe that he wouldn't be a fixture on the Canadian roster. Amongst all Canadian defensemen, Sanheim averages the fourth most time on ice at even strength, sitting right at 20 minutes. His 24:44 average sits third.
Looking at more of the defensive numbers, Sanheim has the third-best CF% (45.34) among defensemen who have skated at least 900 minutes at even strength. He is only behind Cale Makar (57.24) and Matthew Schaefer (54.53). He is also third behind the same two players in xGF% (48.59). It's hard to compare him to someone like Makar due to the supporting cast the latter has, but being anywhere in the conversation should count for something.
He may not be having the same kind of offensive year as in the past, but other defensemen projected to make the roster are in a similar boat. So his defensive game should hold more weight. Jon Cooper has also spoken highly of his game recently, which holds even more power.
Travis Konecny
Konecny's case for the Olympics took a hard hit with his slow start to the season. Now he may be on the outside looking in. His overall numbers aren't bad as he sits with 33 points in 37 games. He was a part of the 4 Nations team, but was used sparingly during the tournament. So while he was invited to Olympic camp over the summer, his spot is nowhere near guaranteed at this point.
In fact, many believe that Tom Wilson will take the place of Konecny once the roster is named. Just looking offensively, Wilson has six more goals and one more point entering Monday night's games. And his style of play may be more tailored for the smaller ice surface, despite the IIHF being more rigid on aggressiveness.
Canada is stacked with numerous amounts of talents in the NHL. So making the final roster was always going to be tough, regardless of the numbers. If Konecny had a better start to the season instead of ramping up late, this might be a different conversation. But adding in the fact that he was barely used in a tournament with less value, a higher stage might not be the place for him.
Trevor Zegras
Before this season, it would have been crazy to suggest that Zegras could make the Olympic roster. He was coming off two struggling seasons, marred by injury and a lack of trust from his head coach. But flash forward, and he's leading the Flyers in all offensive categories. He's had a resurgence since being traded to Philadelphia.
Zegras is top-10 in scoring amongst all USA-born forwards and is fewer than 10 points behind Matt Boldy, who leads all American forwards. And that comes averaging the 22nd most time on ice. He's even further down the list on the power play alone, meaning he is doing most of his damage at even strength. 25 of his 37 points are during 5-on-5 play.
Could Bill Guerin add Zegras based on his shootout prowess? He currently holds a 60.7 percent mark, putting him near the top in NHL history, depending on how many shots you consider to be enough. It's not like Zegras is a slouch anywhere else, so he would provide more value. Will his hot start be enough, or will his track record be more of the focus? It would be a nice reward, but it's hard to see Zegras knocking off the other talent.