Bedard, Scheifele, 4 Nations winners left off Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey roster

Connor Bedard made his case with a surge up the NHL’s scoring race.

The Chicago Blackhawks centre shot out of the gate this season and was tied for third in scoring with 44 points in 31 games before sustaining an upper-body injury Dec. 12.

But even that wasn’t enough for the 20-year-old star to crack Canada’s Olympic team.

“His name was right there to the last second,” Canada general manager Doug Armstrong said Wednesday, adding Bedard’s injury was not a factor in the non-selection. “The reality is there’s so many good players, and we just had difficult decisions to make.”

Bedard is just one of several so-called snubs from a talent-packed country with NHL players set to return to Olympic ice for the first time since 2014.

Winnipeg Jets centre Mark Scheifele and several players who helped Canada win the 4 Nations Face-Off — including Stanley Cup champion and Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett of the Florida Panthers — were also left off as Hockey Canada unveiled its 25-man roster for February’s Milan Cortina Games.

Only five Canadian skaters have produced more points than Scheifele’s 132 over the past two seasons combined.

And five players from the 4 Nations team that topped the United States in a captivating final last February won’t join Canada’s Olympic lineup unless selected as an injury replacement.

Philadelphia’s Travis Konecny and Carolina’s Seth Jarvis joined Bennett as 4 Nations forwards who missed the cut. Vegas goalie Adin Hill and Montreal’s Sam Montembeault were also cast aside, while Canada kept its 4 Nations defence corps intact.

Instead, Canada is bringing in six new faces: forwards Macklin Celebrini (San Jose), Bo Horvat (New York Islanders), Nick Suzuki (Montreal) and Tom Wilson (Washington), and goalies Darcy Kuemper (Los Angeles) and Logan Thompson (Washington).

“Not one player played their way off of this team, just 25 guys played their way on,” Armstrong said at a news conference in Minneapolis, one of the host cities for the world junior hockey championship. “There’s so many worthy players here.”

Bennett’s omission surprised many on social media. The gritty forward — and proven big-game player — tallied 15 goals in 23 playoff games during Florida’s run to a second straight title.

At 4 Nations, Bennett scored the tying goal to help Canada force overtime in the final of the Olympic appetizer, yet after a slow start to this season, he is set to watch the main event from home.

Hill and Montembeault are both having down years, but Colorado netminders Mackenzie Blackwood (.924) and Scott Wedgewood (.919) fell short despite posting the best save percentages among Canadian goalies this season.

Evan Bouchard, Jakob Chychrun and rookie sensation Matthew Schaefer are all having productive seasons on the blue line, but Canada’s staff believes it has a winning formula from 4 Nations.

“We have a proper balance of players that have won at the NHL level and won at the 4 Nations level and complement each other,” said Armstrong, who later heaped praise on the 18-year-old Schaefer.

“Fantastic talent, he brings you out of your seat every night. He’s got maturity beyond his years on and off the ice. I was shocked at how quickly he worked his way into our conversations.”

Armstrong said Canada has multiple standby lists in case of injury, covering several play styles. The GM of the St. Louis Blues said players waiting in the wings will continue to follow Olympic testing requirements in case they get the call.

“It’s not one player out, one player in,” he said. “What we’re going to do is say, if this style of player gets hurt, we’ll have a list of players to look at.

“Everyone hopes that the 25 guys have health until then.”

Canada boasted 41.9 per cent of players on opening day NHL rosters this season. The pool runs so deep that it is often said a Canadian “B” team could compete for a medal.

History shows debates over who should or shouldn’t have made the roster will continue long after the gold-medal game on Feb. 22 — especially if Canada doesn’t top the podium.

A rookie Sidney Crosby, who later finished sixth in scoring that season, was left at home in 2006 at 18, while veterans Ryan Smyth and Kris Draper featured on a team that placed a lowly seventh at the Turin Games.

At the first Olympics featuring NHLers in 1998, Canada famously opted for defensive specialist Rob Zamuner instead of an aging Mark Messier, and finished fourth.

“From the moment that Connor McDavid scored that goal at the 4 Nations Face-Off, Canadians have been debating this roster. Who should be on it? Who should not be?” said Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations at Hockey Canada.

“That debate won’t change today.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2025.