- Alberta has 62 active NHL players, second only to Ontario
- Calgary-born William Nylander lands on the top line with Taylor Hall and Brayden Point
- Read below for the full four lines, three pairs and both goalies
Alberta could ice a real NHL team, and it would be better than you think.
Daily Hive ran the exercise Tuesday, building four lines, three defense pairs and a goalie tandem out of active players born in the province. The top line came back as Taylor Hall, Brayden Point and William Nylander.
Nylander is the one that makes people do a double take. He plays for Sweden internationally and has since his mid-teens, but he was born in Calgary on May 1, 1996, while his father Michael was playing for the Flames.
A reporter asked him about the Canada option during 4 Nations media day in Montreal, and Nylander did not hesitate:
“You know what? I think from when I was a kid I was just always considering myself Swedish. So, when I realized I was good enough to compete for the junior national team, I wasn’t even thinking about playing for Canada or anything. Although, that was an option too, if you look back at the time.”
Ontario still runs the country with 179 active NHL players. Alberta is next at 62, ahead of Quebec (58) and British Columbia (50), which is a lot of hockey out of a province that sits fourth in population.
Here is the full Alberta roster:
| Unit | Players |
|---|---|
| First line | Taylor Hall – Brayden Point – William Nylander |
| Second line | Jake DeBrusk – Bobby McMann – Dylan Guenther |
| Third line | Dylan Holloway – Sam Steel – Jake Neighbours |
| Fourth line | Peyton Krebs – Kirby Dach – Brendan Gallagher |
| First pair | Josh Morrissey – Cale Makar |
| Second pair | Brett Kulak – Jared Spurgeon |
| Third pair | Jacob Middleton – Colton Parayko |
| Goalies | Logan Thompson, Stuart Skinner |
The blue line is where this team would actually win games. Cale Makar and Josh Morrissey are both Calgary kids and both would anchor a top pair anywhere in the league. Sticking Colton Parayko on the third pair feels close to rude.
Five of these guys were on Canada’s Olympic roster in Milan in February: Point, Makar, Morrissey, Parayko and Logan Thompson. Canada came home with silver after the Americans won the final 2-1 in overtime.
That post counts six Albertans on the roster because it includes Brandon Hagel, who grew up in Morinville. Hagel was born in Saskatoon, so he misses this particular cut on a technicality.
Goaltending carries the obvious question mark. Thompson had a monster season in Washington and still got left off more than half the GM ballots when the Vezina finalists came out, with Ilya Sorokin, Jeremy Swayman and Andrei Vasilevskiy taking the three spots. Stuart Skinner slots in behind him with a pile of playoff mileage from Edmonton.
Left defense is the one real hole. Brett Kulak on a second pair is a stretch, and there is not much behind him. Everywhere else, an Alberta-only lineup would give most of the league a serious night.
