“Am I on the team?” asked Daniel Sedin, with an eager grin. He was on the team, he was told. It’s just a paper roster. It’s miles from reality. It’s one idiot reporter’s notepad, with some smart people’s input. Daniel, his brother Henrik, and Alexander Ovechkin on a line, why not. Canada versus the world.

“I love it,” said Daniel.

One flaw in this World Cup of Hockey was that not every team had an anthem, or indeed a country, and it was still called a World Cup. Team Europe will face Sweden in one semi-final; Team North America was so close, and the most fun thing in generations. Some gimmicks are great.

Meanwhile, in what smells a lot like a negotiating tactic with the International Olympic Committee over participation in 2018, the NHL has apparently batted around the idea of a Ryder Cup-like tournament. They liked the idea of fall 2018. They wondered about North America versus Europe, best of three, maybe best of five.

First: It shouldn’t be North America, if only because it doesn’t need to be, and it could be embarrassing for USA Hockey if you pick the best roster. In 2018, Patrick Kane makes the team, Johnny Gaudreau, maybe Auston Matthews. That might be it. No, let America go through its hockey identity crisis elsewhere.

Second, due to World Cup prep, no real work has been done on a Ryder Cup. Yet.

Third, if you’re going to ditch the Olympics (which I do not expect will happen) and anger players (who want to go) and maybe break a bridge to Beijing and the Chinese market in 2022 (again, unlikely) so that you can lard more money onto the greed-pile (okay, maybe it’s possible), do this: Canada against the world.

“I like that idea,” says Daniel Sedin. “Especially because I’m on the team, too. That would even things out.”

“That would be exciting,” says Swedish defenceman Mattias Ekholm. “I don’t think I would be on that roster, but I would definitely watch it. I think it would be a great, great thing. I think it would be a hockey game of all-time, if it’s worth something. It can’t be like an all-star game, then it’s no point. It’s got to be worth something for the players, that it’s worth something, winning.

“Then I think it would be a great idea. It’s an exciting idea. That would be something different, and something we haven’t seen. I wish I was on the team.”

He would not be on the team, probably. But since North America and Europe played fantasy hockey, it’s easy to lapse into fantasy hockey. Asked if a world roster would even the talent disparity with Canada, Team Europe GM Miroslav Satan nodded and said, “Yeah.”

“I think you have to look at how big is the pool you’re choosing from,” Satan said. “I mean, look at our team. We had 50 players, we had maybe eight defenceman who regularly played. We took seven. So that shows you. Canada, I don’t know how many they could choose. It’s probably 100.”

Yes, hockey is the game where goaltending and bounces and one game can even almost any matchup, but Canada has cracked some of the code. Vancouver, Sochi, this World Cup — hell, Sidney Crosby is on a 22-game international winning streak. Canada hasn’t been in a position to lose a game since the 2010 final.

“Canada has the most depth right now in the world, there’s no question about that,” said Team Europe’s Zdeno Chara. “They can lose players, star players, and they have another tens of other players that can replace them and still contribute.”

“The depth in Canada, there’s no other country like it,” says Sweden’s Daniel Sedin. “I think the top players in each country are maybe as talented — even look at the world juniors too, other countries really match up well. But it’s the guys after that. Canada can play four teams and be as good.”

“I don’t think anyone’s really close at all,” says Ekholm.

Canada versus the world is basically what’s happening now. We have a generation of players that, in Chara’s words, “are playing in their prime time.” Canada loses Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin and Duncan Keith and nobody expects a loss to Russia in Saturday’s semi-final, or to anyone. (Though both are possible.)

So, ask a few smart NHL people for input, and the world roster becomes clearer. Say:

FORWARDS

Johnny Gaudreau-Anze Kopitar-Patrick Kane

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Filip Forsberg-Evgeni Malkin-Vladimir Tarasenko

Alex Ovechkin-Henrik Sedin-Daniel Sedin

Auston Matthews-Sasha Barkov-Nikita Kucherov

DEFENCE

Victor Hedman-Anton Stralman

Erik Karlsson-Roman Josi

Hampus Lindholm-Oliver Ekman-Larsson

GOALIE

Henrik Lundqvist, Cory Schneider, Sergei Bobrovsky

Of course, you can make your own. Add Patrik Laine! Mix in Jake Voracek! Maybe you prefer Evgeny Kuznetsov, Gabriel Landeskog, Shayne Gostisbehere, Ondrej Palat, Kevin Shattenkirk, Max Pacioretty, Loui Eriksson. Phil Kessel might tweet about you if you don’t add him.

The point is, great players would be left out of the lineup. You could make a B team and it would be great. Sounds like someone we know, right?

Anyway, this is likely moot. The NHL probably goes to the Olympics, assuming the IOC isn’t completely unreasonable, and both should make it happen. But there’s no better way to close the talent gap, and the World Cup opened up the fantasy hockey realm. May as well dream.