This in from several sports commentators, the wish that Team Canada had added Edmonton Oilers d-men Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman to the Olympic roster, as it would bolster Connor McDavid and improve an area of much concern for the team, the ability of its defenders to move the puck.
First up is former NHL GM Craig Button speaking on the Overdrive podcast in Toronto.
Said Button: “To me, when they didn’t name Zach Hyman, I think it was a big mistake, because I think the most important thing was to get Connor McDavid into a state where he could be as comfortable as possible, as confident as possible. And I think they took that away from him by not naming Hyman.”
Button continued: “I think that Connor McDavid, he knows what the responsibility is, he knows what the demands are, and we know how badly he wants to win. So I think that when you were selecting the team, you had to be having that in mind. And then the opportunity opened (with late injuries to Team Canada picks Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli), and they didn’t take it. And I think it’s a mistake.”
On defence, Button said he has no doubt that top d-man Cale Makar will play well, but he said after Makar there’s a drop off to Josh Morrissey, Devon Toews and Shea Theodore, then another significant drop off after that. “You can’t play those guys all of them 30 minutes each. They’re going to need some support from Parayko, Harley, Doughty, Sanheim.
“I think there’s a significant drop then to your next four. And what does it look like?… If those net four defence — after the top four we’ve named (Makar, Toews, Theodore, Morrissey) can’t carry some significant play, how vulnerable are you in having to play them and not playing Makar more? That’s where the challenge comes.”
Next up is former NHLer Nick Kypreos of the Real Kyper & Bourne show in Toronto, who wondered after Makar who is the next best Canadian d-man when it comes to bringing pace to the Canadian team. His co-host Justin Bourne suggested Theodore and Morrissey, then asked: “Do you have concerns that they don’t have enough of that?”
“I do,” Kypreos said. “Yeah, now I do.”
“And what now would change that?” Bourne said.
“Maybe your buddy on the island (hot shot rookie Matthew Schaeffer) or (Evan) Bouchard… Just watching how talented they were offensively and able to bring the pucks up and push really hard.”
The U.S. blueline is bolstered because Boston’s Charlie McAvoy has reached another level of play, Kypreos said, giving the USA a slight edge on defence over Team Canada, which is filled with more defensive d-men, as team GM Doug Armstrong wanted to something of a “car wash” defence on Team Canada, with opposing attackers having to go through long sticks and long limbs to get to the Canadian net.
“I mean, you’re going to win a gold medal with a car wash, blue line led by Pareko?” Kypreos asked, sounding unconvinced. “That’s the game plan.”
On Oilers Now, Chris Pronger, the former Norris Trophy winner and double Team Canada Olympic gold medallist, noted that many of the players picked have not had their best years this season, including Doughty, Parayko, and Sanheim.
“You look at playmaking on the back end, they get any injuries to any of the Top 4, Morrissey, Theodore, Toews and Makar, and you never know what’s going to happen.”
My take
1. I’ve pushed all year for Hyman and for Bouchard to be on Team Canada, but mainly that push came from Edmonton commentators like me, not from Ontario guys. This is a welcome change, but it comes too late to have any impact on the team.
The main argument against Bouchard is he gives away the puck too much and makes too many defensive gaffes, but in the playoffs, he’s proven he can cut down on such mistakes and play solid defence against tough competition under severe pressure.
The knock on Bouchard was always brought up in isolation, I’ll suggest, the argument being that because he wasn’t a great player on defence, he wasn’t worthy of Team Canada. But there is no perfect player. Every player has pros and cons to his game. And if you compare Bouchard to the players who did make it — as is now happening as people think harder about Team Canada’s roster and which players were, in fact, chosen — it’s clear Bouchard would have filled a real need for puck-moving on this team, something many of the d-men chosen are comparatively poor at doing.
2. Bouchard was the NHL’s top scoring d-man this year and the top scoring d-man two years running in the playoffs. Hyman is one of the rare players who has come into Edmonton and found amazing chemistry on a line with Connor McDavid. That should have had them on this team.
3. We’ve just witnessed the train wreck of the Team Canada women’s team at the Olympics, which went with players known to management, grinder-type vets with a past record of success, as opposed to bringing on board the fastest and most skilled Canadian players possible.
Our women’s team got obliterated by Team USA in the first round, in large part due to this incompetent roster selection process.
One hopes we won’t see the same story play out with our men’s team.
Of course, our men’s team has four of the greatest hockey player in NHL history in Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, McDavid and Makar, so it’s unlikely any other team will swamp them. But the USA team has the talent to beat this Team Canada squad. Canada barely beat the USA at the Four Nations tournament, and this American team looks better than that 2025 edition.
As for Canada, as Pronger notes, we’ve got a lot of older, slower d-men who haven’t played that well this year.
4. Maybe Team Canada will be better without players like Bouchard and Hyman. But I doubt it. It still may be good enough to win, given the astonishing talent upfront, but I can’t see how the job will be easier with McDavid’s favourite wingman in Hyman, and Canada’s second best attacking d-man in Bouchard.
At the Cult of Hockey
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