NHL players obviously want to play in the Olympics in 2018, but unless something changes, that won't be the case.
With that in mind, Hockey Canada is moving forward in order to put together the best roster they can for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Speaking of roster, Team Canada named its roster for the 2017 Sochi Open and Tournament of Nikolai Puchkov, both of which are pre-Olympic tournaments.
Both rosters feature a ton of former NHL players and they should give fans an idea of what Team Canada's Olympic squad could look like for the 2018 games.
Derek Roy, Ben Scrivens, Carlo Colaiacovo, Cam Barker, Max Talbot, and Mason Raymond are the bigger names that stand out from the rosters.
Fans should keep in mind, though, that Canada will also be looking at other players, as per GM Sean Burke:
"Any player that's eligible, whether he's playing in North America on an AHL contract or in college, junior, we don't want to leave any stones unturned."
Both pre-Olympic tournaments will take place in August with the Sochi Open taking place from August 6th to 9th in Russia and the Tournament of Nikolai Puchkov in St. Petersburg taking place from August 14th to 17th.
