Why chemistry and adaptability are just as important as talent for international teams

There are many factors and inputs that go into selecting a national team, especially one primed for best-on-best competition at the highest level of play.

That is exactly what hockey fans are about to see in February at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, and with every participating nation’s roster finalized, it becomes clear what factors decision makers prioritized when constructing their teams, especially for those countries with the luxury of leaving truly elite players at home due to roster constraints.

That certainly includes both Canada and the United States, whose respective decision makers clearly gave considerable weight to familiarity, chemistry and adaptability by prioritizing continuity with their 4 Nations Face-Off rosters as well as known quantities when it comes to playing together in the NHL.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Don Granato to discuss why these factors can be just as important as evaluating players based on their individual talent level alone.

Tyler Yaremchuk: When you hear the debates, Jason Robertson was a big one being left off that Team USA. From a coach’s perspective it’s not about rattling off the 13 best players, and they’ll go ahead and figure it out, but having a guy like Tage Thompson who can maybe play a little bit more up and down your lineup… That’s really how you have to think about these events, right Don?

Don Granato: Exactly… That guy playing 13 minutes has to stay in the right mind frame, because the next night he might be playing 20. It’s a short event; it’s completely different than an 82-game schedule or a Stanley Cup race. I think chemistry is one big, big component. When you’re putting these teams together, in my experience, you are looking at chemistry… Some of it will develop as the tournament goes, but you go in and you’re hoping it develops… When I look at this roster, Matthew Tkachuk with Auston Matthews together were one of the most dynamic lines in the history of the National Team Development Program. Those two guys will have instant chemistry the moment you want to put them back together.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…