Artem Anisimov (Russia)
Many may be surprised to see Anisimov on this list, given that he’s played mostly unremarkable bottom-six minutes for Ottawa this season, and I was certainly not expecting to be making the case for him. A quick glance at Russia’s depth chart, though, and Anisimov starts to look like he may have a legitimate shot.
While Evgeni Malkin should be a shoo-in to centre the top line, the centre position starts to look a lot dicier after that, especially since Evgeni Kuznetsov is currently ineligible due to a four-year ban for testing positive for cocaine. Options other than Anisimov include former Senator Vladislav Namestnikov, Ivan Barbashev, and Vladislav Kamenev. Pavel Datsyuk could be an option from the KHL, but he’ll be 42 come the Olympics and hasn’t necessarily been tearing it up in Russia since leaving the NHL.
Something major that is in Anisimov’s favour is that he was on Russia’s 2019 World Championship roster and, and while that isn’t a true best-on-best tournament, that’s a pretty good indication that, at least for the moment, he’s firmly part of the national team’s plans. Anisimov also represented Russia on home soil in Sochi in 2014.
Olympic Chance: 60%