The NHL announced recently that they aren’t able to host the much anticipated World Cup of Hockey in 2024. The event is now scheduled to be held in 2025 however there is still much uncertainty. With controversy surrounding Russia’s eligibility as well as the return of Team North America and Team Europe, there are still question marks. With that in mind, we do know that we will see the likes of Canada, the USA, Sweden, Finland, and the Czech Republic. These five hockey powers all have immense talent pools and in this series will project who we could see suit up for their respective nations.
Next up in the series, we have team Czechia. Formerly, known as the Czech Republic, the Czechs will likely be boasting the weakest roster at this tournament. However, the Czechs still boast a talented group and could still upset some of the favorites at the tournament. With that being said, let’s take a look at the potential team Czechia roster.
Projecting Team Czechia Roster
Forwards
D, Kubalik-M. Necas-D. Pastrnak
J. Vrana-T. Hertl-J. Voracek
F. Zadina-F. Chytil-O. Kase
O. Palat-D. Krejci-R. Faksa
HM’s: P. Zacha, D. Kampf, M. Kaut, L. Sedlak, T. Nosek
Team Czechia’s forward group is the weakest of the major five nations. However, there is still tons of talent up front. Led by David Pastrnak and Martin Necas, the Czechs still boast a solid forward core. This group also features veterans like David Krejci, Jakub Voracek, and Ondrej Palat. Youngsters like Filip Zadina and Martin Kaut could also make a strong case to crack the roster in three years’ time, depending on their development. Krejci and Voracek, are in the latter stages of their careers but can still play are still above average NHL’ers and should crack this squad on experience alone.
Defense
L. Hajek-F. Hronek
J. Zboril-D. Jiricek
R. Simek-J. Rutta
HM’s: R. Gudas, F, Kral
The Czech defense is the weakest aspect of their roster. Filip Hronek and newly signed 2022 sixth-overall pick David Jiricek form a solid top-two right-defense core. However, outside of those two, the defense is thin, particularly on the left side. Libor Hajek and Jakub Zboril are still relatively young but don’t project to be top-pair defensemen as of now. Radim Simek and Jan Rutta add experience to the defense as Rutta has won hockey’s ultimate prize with the Lightning, and Simek adds defensive stability. However, both are bottom-pair defensemen nonetheless. The Czechs don’t have any big-name prospects who project to round out the defense core as of now either. So if the Czechs want success from the backend they will need to find some young hidden gems or have this current group play above expectations.
Goalies
V. Vanecek
K. Vejmelka
HM’s: D. Vladar, L. Dostal, P. Mrazek
In goal, team Czechia has several options. Their most established goalie and likely starter is Vitek Vanecek of the Devils. However, they boast lots of young goalies as well who could challenge Vanecek. Dan Vladar and Karel Vejmelka are only 26 and 25 years old and are both having solid seasons with their respective clubs. Youngster Lukas Dostal has also begun playing games for the Ducks and he could develop into a solid NHL goaltender in his own right. We also can’t count out veteran Petr Mrazek who has the most experience out of the goaltending core.
Team Czechia’s roster will be in for a tough time if they want to take down some of the favorites in the tournament. They have some high-end talent at the top of the roster but don’t have the depth of some of the top teams. They will need a great performance from the backend and especially in goal if they hope to have any chance of winning. However, you can never count the Czechs out in any international tournament, and the World Cup of Hockey is no exception.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
