The 2016 World Cup of Hockey officially begins in just a few days time and, if the exhibition games are any indication, we won't be seeing much from New Jersey Devils' players during the tournament.
Only two Devils were named to a World Cup roster (Cory Schneider and Kyle Palmieri) and neither player has seen, or figures to see, much action.
Schneider appeared in one game but will not be starting for USA.
Jonathan Quick will be USA's starting goalie, per Torts.
— Fluto Shinzawa (@GlobeFluto) September 14, 2016
Even if Schneider is the backup to Quick, which honestly seems unlikely at this point, he won't be seeing much action - if any. Team USA is sky high on Quick so he'll be their guy unless he is absolutely terrible several starts in a row. Though Quick is overrated that seems very unlikely.
Meanwhile Palmieri sat out last game as a healthy scratch and in the game he played he still saw limited ice time. I'm sure he'll draw into the lineup again at some point but he won't be leaned on anywhere close to as heavily as he would in New Jersey.
Finally, Tyler Seguin became what is seemingly the 50th Canadian player to have to withdraw from the tournament due to injury. There was some speculation Taylor Hall would be his replacement but Canada elected to go with forward Ryan O'Reilly instead. O'Reilly is a fine player but Hall should have been on Canada from the start so the fact that he's been passed over several times as a replacement really is mind numbing.
While it'd be nice to see Devils players - more so Schneider and Hall - get the recognition and playing time they deserve there isn't really any benefit to having them play.
That's why their usage - or lack thereof - is surely no concern for the Devils. While other teams lose their stars to injury the Devils have their top players resting or riding the bench. And that's a good thing.
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