The Athletic Hockey Show – Winter Olympics Men’s Hockey Evaluations; 2022 WJC Rescheduling – February 11, 2022

First, Max and Corey talk about IIHF President Luc Tardif’s comments that the 2022 World Junior Championship could take place in August, after the NHL Draft, and how the timing could impact the participation of some top prospects.

Next, the guys dive into their Olympic hockey breakdown, with Russia as the favorite to win the tournament, and discuss expectations for Team USA, including Strauss Mann getting an opportunity to prove himself on the world stage in goal, the role Jake Sanderson could play once he joins the team, and more.

Then, the guys give their thoughts on Team Canada and discuss Owen Power’s chance to repeat his 2021 WJC performance in Beijing, the potential offensive upside for Mason McTavish if he plays on a line with Eric Staal and Josh Ho-Sang, the odds of Jack McBain signing with an NHL club if he has a nice tournament, plus prospects to watch on Team Russia and Team Slovakia.

Plus, to close things out, the guys open up the mailbag and take some great listener questions about why Jonathan Lekkerimäki isn’t more widely considered a top-10 talent, the Boston Bruins plan for Jack Studnicka, Matthew Boldy’s chances of winning the Calder trophy this season, how Corey organizes his prospect scouting reports, why Corey rated Trevor Zegras’ puck skills as “NHL average”, whether the Detroit Red Wings prospect pipeline will make them contenders or not, why the New Jersey Devils passed on Cale Makar at No. 1 in the 2017 NHL Draft, an NHL comp for Jake Sanderson, how the Anaheim Ducks should approach the trade deadline, why Corey kept Lane Hutson out of his top-32 prospects list, if the Minnesota Wild are the real deal or not, how many potential first-line centers are in this year’s draft class, and some of the exciting prospects from non-traditional hockey countries.