Olympic Hockey Preview: Canada and USA Rosters Face Big Decisions

The Olympic Winter Games are just over two months away.

With the clock counting down to the first best-on-best Olympic tournament since 2018 — we will assume the arena will be finished on time — the roster breakdown for both Canada and the US is loaded with myriad questions.

In Canada, among the biggest queries is whether the roster will include one or all of the next generation of stars in Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks, Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks and Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders, the lone defenseman in that trio.

As shocking as it may sound, it will take shoehorns to fit any of those players, let alone all of them.

It would be an understatement to say Canada’s forward and defense corps are loaded, and some truly incredible players will be left off when the puck drops in Milan. (We’ll ignore the weak link of goaltending today.)

For starters, Canada has a championship roster from last year’s Four Nations Face-Off tournament to start the blueprint. With Celebrini and Bedard among the NHL’s top three point producers, they certainly deserve a long look, with the likes of Sam Bennett, Anthony Cirelli and Seth Jarvis from that squad on the bubble.

But as much as Celebrini and Bedard have made granite-strong cases, so have the likes of Nick Suzuki, Tom Wilson (although the dubious officiating at the Olympics may not jive with his style), Bo Horvat, John Tavares and Mark Scheifele. Moreover, all of those veteran players are known for their 200-foot game. Celebrini has shown from the start of his career he understands the importance of defending. Bedard has a way to go, but made noticeable strides this season.

Schaefer, the first pick in the past draft, has been outstanding in his first pro campaign, but where can he fit with Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Shea Theodore, Josh Morrissey, Colton Parayko, Travis Sanheim, Colton Parayko, Drew Doughty and Thomas Harley part of the equation?

Prediction time: Celebrini is named to the team and the other two will have to wait for 2030 in France.

As for Team USA — the silver medalists last year — the concern is the health of so many players. Matthew Tkachuk suffered a groin issue in the Four Nations tournament that affected him through to the Stanley Cup title, and has left him sidelined all of the season so far.

Meanwhile, fellow forward Jack Hughes, defensemen Adam Fox, Charlie McAvoy and Jaccob Slavin and number-one goaltender Connor Hellebuyck are all currently on the shelf. As well, J.T. Miller has been dealing with injuries all season.

All of those players are expected to be healed from their current maladies in time for the tournament, but it has been ominous for Team USA.

There are extremely talented forwards waiting in the wings after being left off the Four Nations roster. Among them are Jason Robertson, Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Cole Caufield, Logan Cooley, Matthew Knees and even Patrick Kane.

At defense, there is definitely more of a noticeable drop off beyond the group of incumbents, which also includes Zach Werenski, Brock Faber, Noah Hanifin, Jake Sanderson and Quinn Hughes (who missed last year’s tournament due to injury).

If Fox, McAvoy and Slavin are not 100%, there are a couple of exciting young blueliners to consider if the need arises in Lane Hutson and Jackson LaCombe and maybe even Seth Jones will get the call. But the architects of that squad are hoping to not need to go that deep.

As thrilling as the action on the ice will be, the process of building those two clubs will be exciting enough in its own right.