The World Cup of Hockey rosters where finalized yesterday, and somewhat surprisingly two Blue Jackets were named.
Brandon Dubinsky and Jack Johnson were both added to Team USA. They will join Blue Jacket teammates Seth Jones, Ryan Murray, Brandon Saad (U23 team), and Sergei Bobrovsky (Team Russia), giving the Jackets six players at the event.
Dubinsky is an interesting addition to the team. He definitely gets underrated playing in Columbus but he is a really strong two way centre. Playing on a bad Columbus team he still managed to be a break-even possession player; all while taking on the toughest competition in a defensive role. He has plenty of skill scoring 48 points this season, but also isn’t afraid of the rough stuff either. Should he be on the team over Phil Kessel? No, but let’s be honest him matching up against Sidney Crosby is going to be must watch.
Adding Johnson to the team clearly shows that John Tortorella had a big influence in picking this squad. For those who have read my work in the past you know my thoughts on Johnson. He isn't a very good player and is out of place as a top four defencemen in the NHL. The Jackets get crushed when he's on the ice, whether it be shots, scoring chances, or goals, the team is far better when he's on the bench.
It will be interesting to see how Johnson is used by Torts. Will he lean on him like he does in Columbus? Or does he shelter him with more favorable match-ups? Assuming Torts was a big part of getting Johnson on the team I think he will rely on him as he's a player he knows and trusts.
Team USA fans didn't like Johnson's inclusion but Blue Jacket fans should be thrilled. This should give Johnson a boost of value should the Jackets explore trading him. He's signed for a long time making big money if the Jackets could find a way to get out of that deal they should do it. Erik Gudbranson brought back a haul you would think the Jackets could at least get a couple picks for Johnson.
The one snub from the Jackets was Boone Jenner from the U23 team. With the season Boone had scoring 30 goals, and the physical style of play he provides I thought he would have been a perfect fit for a bottom six role on the team. I tweeted this when the final players were announced but it's hard to argue with the team they picked. It's tough to say Boone should be on the team over guys like Mark Scheifele, Jonathan Drouin or Auston Matthews. The Young Guns team is still the one to watch for Blue Jacket fans though, as the three players mentioned above are all slated to play big roles.
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