USA-Sweden lineups

Thursday, 08.09.2012 / 3:32 PM

By Adam Kimelman - NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor / USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp blog

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LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Here are the lineups the U.S. and Sweden will use for Thursday's game here at Herb Brooks Arena.

Some new faces for the U.S., but the top line of Sean Kuraly with Mario Lucia and Stefan Noesen remains intact.

Alex Galchenyuk and J.T. Miller will have a new linemate -- Reid Boucher, Galchenyuk's teammate with the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League. Boucher played at times on a line in Sarnia with Galchenyuk and Nail Yakupov, so that familiarity should bode well for Galchenyuk, who still is looking to rediscover his game after sitting out for most of last season recovering from a knee injury.

Sitting out for the U.S. are forwards Stefan Matteau, Ryan Hartman, Thomas Di Pauli, Cole Bardreau, Steven Fogarty and Jimmy Vesey; defensemen Jake McCabe, Andy Welinski and Connor Murphy; and goaltenders Anthony Stolarz and Jon Gillies.

The big change to the Sweden lineup comes in goal, where Niklas Lundstrom will start in place of Oscar Dansk, who sustained a minor knee injury in Tuesday's game against Finland.

With the U.S. opting for eight defensemen today, top 2013 NHL Draft prospect Alexander Wennberg, a center, is listed on the roster as a blueliner, so it should be interesting to see how that works out. Earlier this week I asked Wennberg if he had always played center. He said he did try playing defense as a youngster, but it didn't work for him.

"I've always been a center," he told NHL.com. "I didn't like to play [defense]. I like to play offense."

U.S.

Mario Lucia - Sean Kuraly - Stefan Noesen

John Gaudreau - Vincent Trocheck - Nicolas Kerdiles

Reid Boucher - Alex Galchenyuk - J.T. Miller

Blake Pietila - Travis Boyd - Colin Blackwell

Tyler Biggs

Mike Reilly - Seth Jones

Matthew Grzelcyk - Jacob Trouba

Garrett Haar - Shayne Gostisbehere

Patrick Sieloff - Brady Skjei

John Gibson