With the 2026 Winter Olympics less than three months away, the chatter on rosters is heating up. Today, as part of our NHL Rumours, we will follow-up on the discussion from yesterday’s 32 Thoughts The Podcast. They had a topic to discuss regarding the Team Canada roster. Let’s recap and dig into the details.
NHL Rumours: Friedman on Team Canada Defence and Young Guns
Rumour: The two guys from 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas, had a chat on Team Canada. They think the team overall, but defence specifically, will prioritize NHL success. In other words, they will prioritize Stanley Cup winners. What this means, is the young guys will find it difficult to make it.
Analysis: This does make sense for a few reasons. It is the precedent as a main one, and a trait of those in charge, like general manager Doug Armstrong.
Also, those players they are prioritizing are veterans. They are the type of guys that can compose themselves in the highest intensity situations. There’s also familiarity among the group, as it is essentially the unit from the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament team. Finally, as is the common Team Canada theme, like say for Sidney Crosby in 2006 or even Connor Bedard at the 4 Nations, young guys rarely get the call, no matter how good their pedigree.
Some of the quotes from Friedman and Bukauskas on Team Canada are as such. “Guys who’ve won…I think they’re going to prioritize that again…high pressure…command emotions and control yourself.”
The Challenge With the Young Guys
Bedard is likely a great example, that it doesn’t matter. He does have two World Junior gold medal games to state his case. Also, they were played in Canada, talk about pressure. Macklin Celebrini is another example, who currently has himself in the midst of the NHL scoring race. Finally, as is our focus, defence, we have Matthew Schaefer. He’s actually leading the NHL in goals by a defenceman. They’re definitely making a solid case for inclusion.
This potential defence is loaded with cup winners like Drew Doughty and Colton Parayko. Let’s also not forget more recent winners like Shea Theodore or the top Colorado Avalanche pairing, Cale Makar and Devon Toews.
The injury news on Drew Doughty shouldn’t be seen as a deterrent. He will miss a few weeks, but will be back in plenty of time for the Olympics. Plus, his intangibles, like veteran savvy and having played in the pressure cooker, are invaluable to the room and on the ice. Of course, some will question his age and drop in production over recent years. But he won’t be counted on for big minutes, and remains willing to block shots and sacrifice the body when it is on the line.
It is a bit surprising that Aaron Ekblad has not garnered more attention. Not only for this roster, but even the 4 Nations, as well. He helped shut down Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the last two Stanley Cup Finals, and won, twice.
Furthermore, guys like Thomas Harley and Josh Morrissey have really come into their own. They both represent teams hopeful of a deep playoff run, year-after-year. Needless to say, when it comes to the young guys, you can see where it is just hard to find room.
This first group seems to be locks. Sanheim as an example stepped in well at the 4 Nations. Also, for Harley, he is injured, but should only be a couple weeks.
- Harley
- Parayko
- Sanheim
- Makar
- Toews
- Morrissey
The next couple are not guarantees, but meet the criteria for management.
- Doughty
- Theodore
What about the rest of those available? Evan Bouchard comes to mind, and the familiarity with McDavid. That’s not to mention playing on a very strong line and having gone on recent deep playoff runs. Another possibility is Noah Dobson. He’s quietly putting together a strong season in Montreal. Finally, MacKenzie Weegar has played well for a struggling Calgary side. Craig Button‘s recent team has Brandon Montour on it. He obviously checks a lot of the boxes, too.
If we check out moneypuck’s top defensive pairings, we see where some notables make the list. Note, there’s just over 100 qualifying pairings, that played more than 80 minutes together.
1. Dickinson – Desharnais – 86 minutes – 69.2%
2. Chychrun – Roy – 150 minutes – 64%
21. Broberg – Parayko – 200 minutes – 56.5%
22. Toews – Makar – 258 minutes – 55.9%
24. Ekholm – Bouchard – 283 minutes – 55.8%
36. Hanley – Weegar – 161 minutes – 52.7%
40. Dumoulin – Doughty – 155 minutes – 52.2%
42. Shea – Letang – 260 minutes – 51.9%
50. Morrissey – Demelo – 255 minutes – 50.2%
A lot of the potential Canadian defencemen play big minutes against the best competition. This is a hard squad to crack. Furthermore, given the spots already seemingly spoken for, it really makes it that much more difficult. Will we see Schaefer, or Bedard or Celebrini on team? That’s yet to be decided. But the management has the precedent set of success at the senior men’s level. That’s who they’ve gone with in the past, and who they will (mostly anyway), go with again.
Main Photo Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images
