One player to watch on each team at the 2022 Winter Olympics

The 2022 Winter Olympics are fast approaching, with puck drop on the men's tournament about two weeks away. All of the twelve participating nations have submitted their rosters to the International Ice Hockey Federation and the International Olympic Committee, and have been approved.

Each of the twelve nations are allowed to have 25 players on their roster, usually broken down into 14 forwards, eight defenceman, and three goaltenders. Due to COVID-19, the IIHF has allowed all countries to bring an additional six players as a 'reserve squad'.

With all that being said, let's take a look at one player to watch on each country. The players I have listed below are for a number of reasons which include their pedigree at the club or international level, and what they bring to their team, whether that be experience, leadership, skill, speed, etc.

Group A
Canada: Eric Staal
China: Brandon Yip
Germany: Dominik Kahun
United States: Matty Beniers

Group B
Czechs: David Krejci
Denmark: Frans Nielsen
Russian Olympic Committee: Mikhail Grigorenko
Switzerland: Andreas Ambuhl

Group C
Finland: Sami Vatanen
Latvia: Kristers Gudlevskis
Slovakia: Juraj Slafkovsky
Sweden: Lucas Wallmark.

The first game of the 2022 Winter Olympics will see Switzerland take on the Russian Olympic Committee at 3:40am ET on Wednesday, February 9th.

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