Mark Scheifele was not a part of Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster in February.

This time around, the Winnipeg Jets star is making a strong case to be a part of Team Canada at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.

Scheifele recorded a pair of assists in Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, making him the NHL’s top scorer. The Kitchener, Ont., native became the first player to reach 20 points this season (nine goals, 11 assists) and, with his helpers on Saturday, tied Ilya Kovalchuk as the fastest player in Jets/Thrashers franchise history to reach 20 points, reaching the milestone in 12 games.

The 32-year-old centre has recorded a point in 11 of Winnipeg’s 12 games this season, including seven multi-point efforts, propelling the Jets to a 9-3-0 start to the season. He was named the NHL’s second star of the month for October for his performance over the first month of the campaign.

“As far as what he’s done on the ice, he deserves to be on that team,” said TSN’s Frankie Corrado. “Winnipeg is off to a great start this year, and a lot of that has to do with the play of Mark Scheifele.

“The question is going to be, does he fit on the team more than Macklin Celebrini, Connor Bedard, Nick Suzuki, or Robert Thomas? That’s the conversation that will be around Scheifele and this team.”

Scheifele was one of the 42 players invited to Team Canada’s orientation camp in August, putting him on the shortlist for the projected roster in February.

“I’m very excited and very honoured to be invited to that camp,” Scheifele said at the time. “That’s something you don’t take lightly; it humbles you and makes you feel pretty good. I’m very excited for that camp and see some of the guys and hopefully, I can have a good start to the year to make that team.”

Scheifele was the next man up for Canada at the 4 Nations, as he was “placed on alert” prior to the tournament in the event of an injury.

He last represented Canada internationally at the World Championships in 2017, where he recorded three goals and five assists in 10 games, as Canada won the silver medal.

Scheifele was drafted by the Jets with the seventh pick in the 2011 NHL Draft and has spent his entire career with the franchise. Over his 15-year career, he has tallied 345 goals and 479 assists for 824 points in 891 games. Last season, Scheifele put up career highs in goals (39) and points (87) as the Jets won the Presidents’ Trophy.

Canada is in Group A at the Olympic tournament, along with Czechia, Switzerland, and France and is scheduled to open the Group Stage on Feb. 12 against Czechia.