Which Columbus Blue Jackets Could Participate in the Hockey World Cup?

Among all the hoopla surrounding the NHL All Star Game and Skills Competition, the NHL announced a World Cup of Hockey for 2016, which looks to place a “true,” international tournament for the game and most “importantly,” a tourney that the NHL controls and can have all the revenue from.

It’ll be NHL rules, NHL ice, NHL officials, a majority of NHL players…essentially the antithesis of the Olympics. But that isn’t the point of this.

With several Blue Jackets players with ties to the countries that are participating, lets look into our magic eight-ball to see what possibilities there are for a CBJ or two…or all of them!…to make a roster come 2016.

USA

As the game of hockey grows in this great land of ours, so does its talent pool. But, the Blue Jackets should be in good position to land a name or two onto the Stars and Stripes roster. If

Nick Foligno

continues to play at his current level, he’ll be in, no questions asked. But what about someone like

Jack Johnson

? Will the most talked about snub from the 2014 Olympic squad get passed over again? There are some other guys that might vie for the final spot –

Jeremy Morin

and maybe even

Cam Atkinson

– but the Blue Jackets’ best bet to land another name on the roster is to draft super talented or acquire a name somehow. No offense to Morin or Atkinson, but unless they

really

step up their game, it might not be in the cards. And finally, let us not forget

Brandon Dubinsky

and the presence he can bring with him. Is he Team USA ready? If not Johnson, I say Dubi should get a shot.

CANADA

Oh, Canada. Its always a double edged sword. Guys like

and

Scott Hartnell

are of course options for the red leafs, but there’s just so much damn talent out of our neighbors to the north that it makes it very difficult to truly predict if they’ll get the call. I say Joey continues to elevate his game, grow as a player over the next couple seasons, and he’s good to center the fourth line for the Canadians.

RUSSIA

Even though the tournament is years away, I think the Blue Jackets’ imprint on team Russia is the easiest to predict. Of course, officer

Sergei Bobrovsky

will be between the pipes,

Artem Anisimov

will center the second or third line and

Fedor Tyutin

will be a second or third defensive pairing. Easy peasy, Russia. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am.

SWEDEN

would be the only option (for now) for a Blue Jacket to make his mark on Team Sweden, but I completely see why some might think he’s too young – I even have that consideration. If this style of tournament continues, then I could see him emerging, but I think 2016 is too young for Wennberg.

YOUNG STARS

Here’s the most fun to speculate about. Will

and

be good enough to have earned their spot on a roster that will be even

harder

to be on than it would be for Joey on Team Canada? Not only does the Young Stars take from the U23’s of Canada, but from the USA as well. I say, if I had to choose between one or the other, Murray would get the nod, but its simply too far in the future to predict such a flimsy roster.

What do you think of the new tournament? Do you think I over-estemated the potential/worth of a couple of Blue Jackets? Let me know in a comment below or on twitter @UnionandBlue.