When it comes to American-born centers, Derek Stepan is one of the best in the NHL today. He is a likely lock to suit up for Team USA in future international action, but what are the chances that No. 21 will make the 2014 Winter Olympic roster?
According to Team USA general manager David Poile, Stepan has an excellent chance. The Rangers were in Nashville for a game with the Predators, and Steve Zipay of Newsday was able to speak with the architect of Team USA:
Stepan, Poile said, "has gotten better and better as the season has gone on. Missing training camp is . . . not a good thing. But his play of late has been much, much better, and he's second in scoring on the Rangers. That's what we're going to need.
"Center ice is a critical area for us. We have really good centermen, but we're not really, really deep in centers.
"So I'm trying to say it the correct way: We would like Derek to be on the team."
Poile mentioned that USA has some really good centermen, but where would Stepan fit in on the roster? Joe Pavelski and David Backes should be locks to make the roster, but after that there are two ce ...
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Article written by Tom Urtz Jr.
What Are Derek Stepan’s Chances to Make USA’s 2014 Winter Olympics Roster?
November 25th, 2013 by Tom Urtz Jr. Leave a reply »
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