Projecting Russia's lines at the World Cup

The 2016 iteration of the World Cup is far removed from the political tensions that came with the early Canada Cup tournaments, but make no mistake: There's nothing Russia would love more than to come out on top of an international tournament played on Canadian soil.

And while the roster is made up of familiar faces from around the NHL looking to get that job done, there are a few relatively unknown but very talented KHL players in the mix to add a touch of old school intrigue.

Here's what we project Russia's lines to look like:

Forwards

Head coach Oleg Znarok's team boasts an embarrassment of riches up front, including a trio of the game's top goal scorers in Alex Ovechkin, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Nikita Kucherov.

If that wasn't enough, superstar center Evgeni Malkin and his heir apparent Evgeny Kuznetsov are there to lock down the middle, with Pavel Datsyuk - who's now plying his trade back home - slotted on the left for good measure.

LW	C	RW
Alex Ovechkin	Evgeni Malkin	Vladimir Tarasenko
Pavel Datsyuk	Evgeni Kuznetsov	Nikita Kucherov
Evgeni Dadonov	Vadim Shipachyov	Artemi Panarin
Vladislav Namestnikov	Artem Anisimov	Nikolay Kulemin
Ivan Telegin

The third line will be quick and skilled, featuring a pair of KHL forwards and the reigning NHL rookie of the year, while some more defensively responsible players get the call on the fourth line.

Add it all up and Russia's forward group will be as dangerous as any other in this tournament.

Defensemen

Here's where things get a bit iffy for Russia, a country that hasn't produced many elite defensemen over the years.

Andrei Markov is by far the oldest and thereby most experienced defenseman on the roster, but at age 37, may be a bit long in the tooth to keep up with this tournament's star power.

The rest of the top six is young and full of potential, but, apart from maybe Dmitry Kulikov in Buffalo, not quite top pairing material on even their own NHL squads.

LD	RD
Dmitry Kulikov	Nikita Nestorov
Andrei Markov	Nikita Zaitsev
Dmitry Orlov	Alexei Marchenko
Alexei Emelin

One X-factor here could be Nikita Zaitsev, who will be making his Toronto debut after signing with the Maple Leafs during the offseason.

Goalies

The youngster Andrei Vasilevskiy may end up being the best of the bunch down the road, but even after an impressive showing during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he'll remain buried behind a Vezina Trophy winner in Sergei Bobrovsky and Semyon Varlamov, a former finalist for the award.

G
Sergei Bobrovsky
Semyon Varlamov
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Both Bobrovsky and Varlamov played well at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, albeit in a poor and disappointing tournament for a team playing on home soil.

Power Play

Word to the wise: Don't take penalties when playing Russia.

These power-play units will run circles around much of the opposition.

Unit	LW	C	RW	LD	RD
1	Ovechkin	Malkin	Tarasenko	Datsyuk	Nestorov
2	Panarin	Kuznetsov	Kucherov	Markov	Zaitsev

Penalty Kill

If Russia gets into penalty trouble, however, the opportunities will be there.

Artem Anisimov and Nikolay Kulemin should see heavy minutes up front, while their more offensively-minded brethren will also be called upon to help lock things down in their own zone during four-on-five situations.

Deploying Ovechkin is never a bad thing, really.

Unit	C	F	LD	RD
1	Anisimov	Kulemin	Kulikov	Marchenko
2	Namestnikov	Ovechkin	Markov	Orlov

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