Parise, Suter, Koivu, Granlund, Vanek early picks for World Cup

Zach Parise and Ryan Suter of the Wild are on the U.S. roster for the World Cup of Hockey. Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund are on Finland's roster, and Thomas Vanek was also chosen for Team Europe.

Koivu is likely to be the Finnish captain. Parise was the U.S. captain at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

All eight teams announced their preliminary 16-man rosters Wednesday for the World Cup in Toronto from Sept. 17-Oct. 1.

The U.S. team will be coached by John Tortorella, who also was behind the bench for the American's silver medal win at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

"If you've watched a John Tortorella coached team, you know the intensity he brings," Parise told the NHL Network after the Wild flew to Toronto after Wednesday's practice. "It's an uptempo style, it's a really really hard-working style, a responsible style. It's going to be smart in your own end, make plays and get chances when you can, but not at the risk of sending one back up your way."

"It's always an honor to play for your country," said Koivu, who missed the 2014 Olympics because of an injury. "You realize when you do miss it that the opportunities to play for your country is not as often."

"Definitely an honor," said Granlund, who was on Finland's bronze-medal winning team at the Sochi Games.

Each team will have 23 players, with rosters to be filled out by June 1. Competing teams are Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden, the U.S., Team Europe (from other European countries) and Team North America (players younger than 24 from the U.S. and Canada).

There will be two four-team groups. The top two finishers from each group will go to the semifinals for elimination games, and the two semifinal winners will play a best-of-three series for the title.

Group A is Canada, Czech Republic, Europe and the U.S. Group B is Finland, North America, Russia and Sweden.

Nino Niederreiter (Switzerland) was not chosen for Team Europe's top 16, but is a strong candidate to eventually be added. Defenseman Jonas Brodin did not make the early Swedish roster.

"Everyone is going to be hungy and excited to play with the best and against the best," said Parise.

TEAM RUSSIA
Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets, G; Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche, G; Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning, G Dmitry Kulikov, Florida Panthers, D; Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens, D; Dmitry Orlov, Washington Capitals, D; Artem Anisimov, Chicago Blackhawks, F; Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings, F; Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning, F; Nikolay Kulemin, New York Islanders, F; Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals, F; Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins, F; Vladislav Namestnikov, Tampa Bay Lightning, F; Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals, F; Artemi Panarin, Chicago Blackhawks, F; Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues, F

TEAM FINLAND
Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins, G; Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators, G; Olli Maatta, Pittsburgh Penguins, D; Rasmus Ristolainen, Buffalo Sabres, D; Sami Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks, D; Esa Lindell, Dallas Stars, D; Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild, F; Jori Lehtera, St. Louis Blues, F; Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers, F; Mikael Granlund, Minnesota Wild, F; Jussi Jokinen, Florida Panthers, F; Valtteri Filppula, Tampa Bay Lightning, F; Leo Komarov, Toronto Maple Leafs, F; Joonas Donskoi, San Jose Sharks, F; Lauri Korpikoski, Edmonton Oilers, F; Teuvo Teravainen, Chicago Blackhawks, F

TEAM CZECH REPUBLIC
Petr Mrazek, Detroit Red Wings, G; Michal Neuvirth, Philadelphia Flyers, G; Ondrej Pavelec, Winnipeg Jets, G; Radko Gudas, Philadelphia Flyers, D; Michal Kempny, Avangard Omsk (KHL), D; Roman Polak, San Jose Sharks, D; Andrej Sustr, Tampa Bay Lightning, D; Michael Frolik, Calgary Flames, F; Martin Hanzal, Arizona Coyotes, F; Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks, F; David Krejci, Boston Bruins, F; Ondrej Palat, Tampa Bay Lightning, F; David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins, F; Tomas Plekanec, Montreal Canadiens, F; Vladimir Sobotka, Avangard Omsk (KHL), F; Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers, F

TEAM SWEDEN
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers, G; Jacob Markstrom, Vancouver Canucks, G; Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes, D; Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning, D; Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chicago Blackhawks, D; Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators, D; Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings, D; Anton Stralman, Tampa Bay Lightning, D; Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals, F; Loui Eriksson, Boston Bruins, F; Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators, F; Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche, F; Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks, F; Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks, F; Alexander Steen, St. Louis Blues, F; Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings, F.

TEAM EUROPE

TEAM CANADA

Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks, G; Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals, G; Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens, G; Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings, D; Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks, D; Marc-Edouard Vlasic, San Jose Sharks, D; Shea Weber, Nashville Predators, D; Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars, F; Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins, F; Jeff Carter, Los Angeles Kings, F; Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins, F; Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks, F; Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars, F; Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning, F; John Tavares, New York Islanders, F; Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks, F.

TEAM NORTH AMERICA

John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks, G; Connor Hellebuyck, Manitoba (AHL), G; Matthew Murray, Pittsburgh Penguins, G; Aaron Ekblad, Florida Panthers, D; Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets, D; Ryan Murray, Columbus Blue Jackets, D; Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs, D; Sean Couturier, Philadelphia Flyers, F; Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres, F; Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames, F; Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings, F; Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche, F; Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers, F; J.T. Miller, New York Rangers, F; Sean Monahan, Calgary Flames, F; Brandon Saad, Columbus Blue Jackets, F.

TEAM USA