Muzzin (CAN), Gaborik (EUR) added to World Cup rosters

Jake Muzzin was added to Team Canada and Marian Gaborik was added to Team Europe as World Cup of Hockey rosters were finalized on Friday. Jonathan Quick had already been named to Team USA, Anze Kopitar to Team Europe, and Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter to Team Canada. Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi also serves as the United States’ general manager.

The rosters (stick tap to the NHLPA):
(*named to roster Friday)

Team Canada

G Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks
G Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
G Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens

D Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks *
D Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
D Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
D Jake Muzzin, Los Angeles Kings *
D Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues *
D Marc-Edouard Vlasic, San Jose Sharks
D Shea Weber, Nashville Predators

F Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars
F Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
F Jeff Carter, Los Angeles Kings
F Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
F Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche *
F Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
F Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers *
F Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins *
F Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
F Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning
F John Tavares, New York Islanders
F Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks *
F Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks

Team North America
-Players from Canada and the United States who are 23 or under as of Oct. 1, 2016

G John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks
G Connor Hellebuyck, Manitoba Moose (AHL)
G Matt Murray, Pittsburgh Penguins

D Aaron Ekblad, Florida Panthers
D Shayne Gostisbehere, Philadelphia Flyers *
D Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets
D Ryan Murray, Columbus Blue Jackets
D Colton Parayko, St. Louis Blues *
D Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs
D Jacob Trouba, Winnipeg Jets *

F Sean Couturier, Philadelphia Flyers
F Jonathan Drouin, Tampa Bay Lightning *
F Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
F Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
F Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
F Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
F Auston Matthews, Zurich SC Lions (Swiss NLA) *
F Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
F J.T. Miller, New York Rangers
F Sean Monahan, Calgary Flames
F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Edmonton Oilers *
F Brandon Saad, Columbus Blue Jackets
F Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets *

Team USA

G Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay Lightning
G Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings
G Cory Schneider, New Jersey Devils

D Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets
D John Carlson, Washington Capitals
D Erik Johnson, Colorado Avalanche *
D Jack Johnson, Columbus Blue Jackets *
D Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers
D Matt Niskanen, Washington Capitals *
D Ryan Suter, Minnesota Wild

F Justin Abdelkader, Detroit Red Wings
F David Backes, St. Louis Blues *
F Ryan Callahan, Tampa Bay Lightning *
F Brandon Dubinsky, Columbus Blue Jackets *
F Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
F Ryan Kesler, Anaheim Ducks
F T.J. Oshie, Washington Capitals
F Max Pacioretty, Montreal Canadiens
F Zach Parise, Minnesota Wild
F Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks
F Derek Stepan, New York Rangers
F James van Riemsdyk, Toronto Maple Leafs *
F Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg Jets

Team Europe
-Pan-European roster of players from countries outside of the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden

G Frederik Andersen, Anaheim Ducks (Denmark)
G Thomas Greiss, New York Islanders (Germany) *
G Jaroslav Halak, New York Islanders (Slovakia)

D Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins (Slovakia)
D Christian Ehrhoff, Chicago Blackhawks (Germany) *
D Roman Josi, Nashville Predators (Switzerland)
D Luca Sbisa, Vancouver Canucks (Switzerland) *
D Dennis Seidenberg, Boston Bruins (Germany)
D Andrej Sekera, Edmonton Oilers (Slovakia)
D Mark Streit, Philadelphia Flyers (Switzerland)

F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Philadelphia Flyers (France) *
F Mikkel Boedker, Colorado Avalanche (Denmark)
F Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers (Germany)
F Marian Gaborik, Los Angeles Kings (Slovakia) *
F Jannik Hansen, Vancouver Canucks (Denmark)
F Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks (Slovakia)
F Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings (Slovenia)
F Nino Niederreiter, Minnesota Wild (Switzerland) *
F Frans Nielsen, New York Islanders (Denmark)
F Tobias Rieder, Arizona Coyotes (Germany) *
F Tomas Tatar, Detroit Red Wings (Slovakia)
F Thomas Vanek, Minnesota Wild (Austria)
F Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers (Norway)

Team Sweden

G Robin Lehner, Buffalo Sabres *
G Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
G Jacob Markstrom, Vancouver Canucks

D Mattias Ekholm, Nashville Predators *
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes
D Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
D Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chicago Blackhawks
D Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
D Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings
D Anton Stralman, Tampa Bay Lightning

F Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals
F Loui Eriksson, Boston Bruins
F Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators
F Carl Hagelin, Pittsburgh Penguins *
F Patric Hornqvist, Pittsburgh Penguins *
F Marcus Kruger, Chicago Blackhawks *
F Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche
F Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
F Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
F Jakob Silfverberg, Anaheim Ducks *
F Carl Soderberg, Colorado Avalanche *
F Alexander Steen, St. Louis Blues
F Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings

Team Czech Republic

G Petr Mrazek, Detroit Red Wings
G Michal Neuvirth, Philadelphia Flyers
G Ondrej Pavelec, Winnipeg Jets

D Radko Gudas, Philadelphia Flyers
D Michal Jordan, Carolina Hurricanes *
D Michal Kempny, Chicago Blackhawks
D Zbynek Michalek, Arizona Coyotes *
D Jakub Nakladal, Calgary Flames *
D Roman Polak, San Jose Sharks
D Andrej Sustr, Tampa Bay Lightning

F Radek Faksa, Dallas Stars *
F Michael Frolik, Calgary Flames
F Martin Hanzal, Arizona Coyotes
F Ales Hemsky, Dallas Stars *
F Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks
F Dmitrij Jaskin, St. Louis Blues *
F David Krejci, Boston Bruins
F Milan Michalek, Toronto Maple Leafs *
F Ondrej Palat, Tampa Bay Lightning
F David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins
F Tomas Plekanec, Montreal Canadiens
F Vladimir Sobotka, Avangard Omsk (KHL)
F Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers

Team Russia

G Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
G Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche
G Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning

D Alexei Emelin, Montreal Canadiens *
D Dmitry Kulikov, Florida Panthers
D Alexey Marchenko, Detroit Red Wings *
D Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens
D Dmitry Orlov, Washington Capitals
D Slava Voynov, SKA St. Petersburg (KHL) *
D Nikita Zaitsev, Toronto Maple Leafs *

F Artem Anisimov, Chicago Blackhawks
F Evgenii Dadonov, SKA St. Petersburg (KHL) *
F Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
F Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
F Nikolay Kulemin, New York Islanders
F Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals
F Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
F Vladislav Namestnikov, Tampa Bay Lightning
F Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
F Artemi Panarin, Chicago Blackhawks
F Vadim Shipachev, SKA St. Petersburg (KHL) *
F Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues
F Ivan Telegin, CSKA Moscow (KHL) *

Team Finland

G Mikko Koskinen, SKA St. Petersburg (KHL) *
G Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
G Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators

D Jyrki Jokipakka, Calgary Flames *
D Sami Lepisto, Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL) *
D Esa Lindell, Dallas Stars
D Olli Maatta, Pittsburgh Penguins
D Ville Pokka, Rockford IceHogs (AHL) *
D Rasmus Ristolainen, Buffalo Sabres
D Sami Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks

F Sebastian Aho, Karpat Oulu (SM-liiga) *
F Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
F Joonas Donskoi, San Jose Sharks
F Valtteri Filppula, Tampa Bay Lightning
F Mikael Granlund, Minnesota Wild
F Erik Haula, Minnesota Wild *
F Jussi Jokinen, Florida Panthers
F Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild
F Leo Komarov, Toronto Maple Leafs
F Lauri Korpikoski, Edmonton Oilers
F Patrik Laine, Tappara Tampere (SM-liiga) *
F Jori Lehtera, St. Louis Blues
F Teuvo Teravainen, Chicago Blackhawks

So, Jake Muzzin in, P.K. Subban out. Though Muzzin’s play had cooled late in the regular season, he had been drawing heavy interest, according to multiple sources, in the first half of 2015-16. Particularly due to his chemistry alongside Drew Doughty, he earned the nod over other high profile players such as Subban, who got caught up in a numbers game on a team flush with right-shot defensemen; the left-right comfort was a major consideration in building the team, according to my report in November. Though Muzzin obviously had an advocate in Kings Assistant General Manager Rob Blake, who also serves as part of Canada’s management team, keep in mind that Anaheim General Manager Bob Murray is also part of that management team and led strong overtures to sign the multifaceted defenseman to the Ducks before he ultimately agreed to a contract with the Kings as a free agent in January, 2010. (This is a roundabout way to say that Murray is among those who think highly of Muzzin).

Gaborik has an extensive history of international competition. The 34-year-old represented Slovakia at the European Junior Championships in 1998, at both the World Junior Championships and U-18 World Championships in 1999 and 2000, at the World Championships in 2001, 2004 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2015, in the Olympics in 2006 and 2010, and scored once in four games at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Obviously, this will be his first time representing Team Europe, where he’ll play alongside fellow Slovakian players in Jaroslav Halak, Zdeno Chara, Andrej Sekera, Marian Hossa and Tomas Tatar (as well as one notable Slovenian).

Former King Slava Voynov was named to Russia’s team today, but it is not clear whether he will be able to participate in the tournament, as reported by Scott Burnside of NHL.com.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement he did not think Voynov, 26, would be eligible to compete. The NHLPA, which is co-hosting the World Cup with the NHL, also is reviewing the matter with the league.

“We will obviously have to review his status with the Players’ Association prior to the start of the tournament in September,” Daly said. “It is not my current expectation that this player will be deemed eligible to play in the World Cup of Hockey.”

Other former Kings to be named to World Cup rosters include Jack Johnson (USA), Christian Ehrhoff (EUR) and Andrej Sekera (EUR). The tournament will take place from September 17 to October 1, 2016, in Toronto.

Colorado Avalanche v Los Angeles Kings

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