The World Cup of Hockey is a few days away, but many teams are still trying to figure out what their final rosters will look like due to many players opting out of the tournament. The most recent players to back out of the tournament are San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas
Report: Czech Republic's Hertl, Gudas opt out of World Cup https://t.co/CMVtaAbJqb pic.twitter.com/26oKlADK0d
— theScore NHL (@theScoreNHL) September 3, 2016
Both players are set to miss the World Cup due to injuries with Hertl ailing an injured knee and Gudas dealing with an injured wrist.
Hertl is coming off of a very deep playoff run in which he and his team competed for the Stanley Cup just a few months ago. With the injury occurring so recently, it’s understandable why both Hertl and the Sharks would rather their young star get healthy ahead of the NHL season, rather than risk further injury in the World Cup of Hockey tournament. At this time, no replacements have been named for either Hertl or Gudas.
The Czech Republic will have to work quickly as their first game of the World Cup is on Sept. 8 against Team Russia. While there should be no shortage of suitors set to fill in, it’s unlikely that the replacements will play to the same level that Hertl and Gudas would had they been able to compete.