US and Canada have injury replacements standing by for Olympic hockey rosters

While Jason Robertson and Adam Fox did not make the U.S. Olympic hockey roster, and Sam Bennett and Mark Scheifele were not picked to play for Canada, that doesn’t necessarily mean none of those players will be in Milan next month.

USA Hockey and Hockey Canada each has a group of players on standby who could get a call in the event of injuries.

“There’s a number of players that we’ve identified that can fill in if need be,” U.S. general manager Bill Guerin said Friday. “There is a plan in place.”

Like Guerin, Canada GM Doug Armstrong did not want to reveal how many players are on the waitlist, other than to say all were asked if they wanted to remain in consideration and told they’d need to keep doing Olympic drug-testing.

“It’s not one player out, one player in,” Armstrong said Thursday. “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 it. If this style of player, gets hurt, we’ll have a list of players to look at.’ That list, it’s long but not too long because there’s different style of players that we want.”

United States

Robertson leads all U.S. NHL players in points, and he has helped Dallas reach three consecutive Western Conference finals. Fellow forwards Alex DeBrincat and Cole Caufield are also in the top 10 in scoring among Americans.

“If we’re doing it like that, then you don’t need a general manager. You don’t need a coach. Just do it by stats,” Guerin said. “But in the end we have a job to do, and we’re putting together a team. Not just a group of individuals. It’s a team.”

Fox and former New York Rangers teammate Chris Kreider were the only U.S. players who took part in the 4 Nations Face-Off early last year who are not reprising their roles in Italy. The U.S. picked five left-handed-shooting defensemen and just three righties, so Fox would seem to be next in line over someone such as undersized Lane Hutson or New Jersey’s Luke Hughes.

“A lot of those players, there’s a chance some of them do get the nod,” Guerin said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen. There’s a lot of hockey between now and then. There’s so many players that could be on this roster that are not.”

In net, there are a handful of options if anything happens to Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger or Jeremy Swayman. One of the Chicago Blackhawks’ Spencer Knight, Vancouver Canucks’ Thatcher Demko and Seattle Kraken’s Joey Daccord figure to be on speed dial just in case.

Canada

Bennett, a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion with Florida, Travis Konecny and Seth Jarvis are the only skaters from Canada’s 4 Nations-winning roster not chosen for Milan. Bennett and Scheifele, a point-a-game player for Winnipeg, were perhaps the most surprising omissions, with 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini, Nick Suzuki and Tom Wilson making it as newcomers.

“There were a number of players who came right down to the wire,” Armstrong said when asked about Scheifele. “There’s so many players that are right on the cusp. No player has played their way off this team. We just had to narrow this down to 25.”

Canada brought back its entire 4 Nations blue line, though a standout rookie made that decision more difficult than expected. Matthew Schaefer was the top pick in the draft last year and has played so well for the New York Islanders in his first season in the league that he forced himself into the mix.

Chicago Blackhawks coach praises ‘2-way player’ Connor Bedard after the center is left off Canada’s roster

“I’ll be honest with you: He wasn’t on my radar at the start of the season,” Armstrong said. “He’s an 18-year-old man that we’re talking about playing in the Olympics. He’s a 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, and that’s a credit to him.”

Goaltending is undoubtedly Canada’s biggest unknown, though Jordan Binnington’s big-game ability has him penciled in as the starter, with Logan Thompson and Darcy Kuemper also on the roster. Colorado’s Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood have excelled for the top team in the NHL so far, which would make both of them slam dunk potential replacements.