Previewing all six Colorado Avalanche in the World Cup of Hockey

The World Cup of Hockey will return this weekend in Toronto. For the past week, people have been provided with a little preview, as all the teams set to play in the tournament appeared in a slate of exhibition games.

For the Colorado Avalanche, they have six players participating in the tournament, on five different teams. All of the Avs contingent was in action during the exhibition games.

Though the games didn’t count, they perhaps provided a preview of what to expect during the actual tournament. With that in mind, here is how all of the Avalanche players looked during their nation’s exhibition games and what to expect from them going forward.

USA – Erik Johnson

After sitting in Team USA’s first exhibition contest against Canada, Johnson made his presence felt in each of their next two games. Despite playing in just two of the games, Johnson led the Americans with eight hits and 10 blocked shots. Though he did not get on the scoreboard, he was effective on both ends of the ice, proving just as likely to be seen behind his opponent’s net as his own. He also saw time on both the penalty kill and the powerplay.

Johnson likely played well enough to find himself in the rotation during the actual tournament. The US was looking to intimidate teams, and he was perhaps the most intimidating presence on the blueline during the exhibition slate.

His playing time might be tied to how coach John Tortorella uses Dustin Byfuglien, but he should play and see time when the US is shorthanded.

Canada – Matt Duchene

Duchene is currently nursing a minor undisclosed injury, which kept him out of Canada’s final exhibition against Russia on Wednesday. In the two games he did appear in against Team USA, he played well in limited minutes. He was fast and surprisingly physical, picking up one goal. He also saw some time on the powerplay.

Duchene’s usage will likely be tied to his injury, which coach Mike Babcock does not think will cause him to miss any tournament games. If he does play, he will be in the bottom-six, but should see powerplay time.

Worth noting, he was used as a wing during the exhibition games, and will likely stay there during the tournament. His injury does merit observation, hopefully it not linger into the preseason.

North America – Nathan MacKinnon

The North American U23 team turned some heads during the exhibition slate. They’re skilled, hungry and, most of all, fast. Perhaps the fastest of the bunch was MacKinnon, who was flying in all three games.

He had two goals (including a beautiful penalty shot) and two assists, and was featured on the powerplay. The only facet of the game in which he struggled was in the faceoff circle, where he was never above 50 percent.

Though their third linemate remains a mystery, MacKinnon will almost certainly remain on a line with his juniors linemate Jonathan Drouin. He will continue to get regular shifts at even strength and on the powerplay. If he, and his teammates, continue to fly around the ice as they have been, they may be a legitimate contender to win it all.

Russia – Semyon Varlamov

Varlamov has only played in one of Russia’s three exhibition games. Though Russia fell in a shootout to the Czech Republic in that contest last Saturday, he played extremely well, stopping 33 of 34 shots. He was often left out to dry by Russia’s porous defense, but proved up to task, showing great athleticism and agility.

Though Varlamov out-performed him by a wide margin statistically during the exhibitions, Russia has named Sergei Bobrovsky the starting goaltender for Sunday’s tournament-opening game against Sweden. He figures to be on a short leash, however, as a more-than-capable Varlamov is waiting in the wings.

Sweden – Gabriel Landeskog and Carl Soderberg

Landeskog and Soderberg were paired together for the entire exhibition slate on Sweden’s third line, though the third member has been somewhat of a revolving door (it was Patrik Berglund in the final exhibition game). Both Soderberg and Landeskog have one point, have been used on the penalty kill (where Landeskog is on the first unit and Soderberg is on the second) and Landeskog has also played on the powerplay. Landeskog has surprisingly taken a few faceoffs, winning all of them. He has played physical ranking second on Sweden with nine hits, but has also picked up four penalty minutes.

Landeskog and Soderberg will probably remain on the team’s checking line with Berglund in the actual tournament. They both will likely play on the penalty, with Landeskog playing on the powerplay as well. If the injury bug continues to bite Sweden, look for Landeskog to get even more minutes, though probably not at center.