Every year in May, the World Ice Hockey Championship is held, which brings together the best teams of the world. However, the composition of the participating teams is not always formed from the strongest representatives of this sport. This is due to the fact that many hockey players are involved in the NHL Championship and the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The 2019 Ice Hockey World Championship, to be held in Slovakia, will be one of the most exciting in the 21st century. This was facilitated by the relatively late start of the tournament, thanks to which many NHL stars will be able to help their national teams. Teams from the USA, Sweden, Canada and the Czech Republic have impressive lineups. The Russian national team will not be left without its leaders.
Goalkeepers
At the 2019 World Cup, the Russian national team will be joined by two goalkeepers from the NHL. The first to join the national team was young Alexander Georgiev, who had a good season at the New York Rangers. Despite the fact that the great Lundqvist is the main goalkeeper of the Rangers, the Russian was able to get a place in the squad and often took a position at the goal. The strengthening of the goalkeeper line came unexpectedly after the NHL season leader club from Tampa was eliminated in the first round. Thanks to this, Andrei Vasilevsky, one of the best goalkeepers in the league, will come to the national team. Most likely, he will be the first number of the national team at the World Cup.
Defenders
Five defenders have already accepted the challenge to the Russian national team. Among them are Arizona defenders Ilya Lyubushkin, Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa), Dmitry Orlov (Washington), Nikita Zaitsev (Toronto), Bogdan Kiselevich (Winnipeg).
Ilya Lyubushkin played 41 matches in the regular season of the NHL, gained experience of playing in the best hockey league in the world. After the sensational departure of Tampa in the first round of the playoffs, Mikhail Sergachev happily agreed to join the ranks of the national team. Sergachev had a good season as a member of the "Lightning", played in 75 matches, in which he scored 6 goals. Top defenders from Washington and Toronto will add defensive power to our team. Dmitry Orlov and Nikita Zaitsev are an integral part of the defense in their clubs. The credibility of these players in the coaching staff overseas is very high. Another defenders of the NHL team will be Bogdan Kiselevich, who played for Winnipeg last season.
The arrival of Ivan Provorov from Philadelphia remains questionable. The defender has not yet signed a new contract. Fans can also hope for the addition of a tall defencist from Colorado to the national team. Nikita Zadorov may be eliminated with his team from the Stanley Cup in the second round, but there is no exact information on this defender.
Forwards
In attack, the Russian national team has a traditionally large choice. In 2019, the main domestic hockey stars will come to the World Championship. It is gratifying that the ranks of the national team will be joined by the top scorer and the best sniper of the past NHL season. Nikita Kucherov, who scored 128 points in the smooth NHL championship, and Alexander Ovechkin, who scored 51 goals in the regular season, will be able to help the Russian team. Another top player who accepted the challenge to the national team was Evgeny Malkin. Despite the fact that the season for "Gino" in Pittsburgh was unfortunate, the striker still averaged more points per game. Another high-profile center of attack in the national team will be the Washington forward Yevgeny Kuznetsov, who will probably play in conjunction with Ovechkin. Problems with the center of the third link can be closed by the forward from Chicago Artem Anisimov. The forward has a lot of experience and is able to help the team.
The Russian national team will be replenished with extreme strikers from the NHL thanks to the arrival of Ilya Kovalchuk, who was chosen as the captain of the national team, and Evgeny Dadonov, who spent a good season in Florida.
Players from St. Louis or Dallas can join the Russian team. It is known that these clubs play among themselves in the second round of the playoffs. Therefore, Tarasenko and Barbashev or Radulov can free themselves.
