With Connor Bedard’s injury, does Canada still add him to the roster and then just replace him if he can’t go to the Olympics? — @CHI_guy08
Bedard deserves to be named to Team Canada on Dec. 31. From there, we’ll see, because being named to the roster and actually being available to play at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in February are two different things.
The Chicago Blackhawks center will be out for the rest of December with an upper-body injury and be reevaluated in January, coach Jeff Blashill said Monday. Nothing should change if Hockey Canada was already planning to pick Bedard for the Olympic team unless the management staff led by general manager Doug Armstrong has been told that the 20-year-old will not be ready to play at a high level come Feb. 12, when Canada plays Czechia in its first game. If that’s the case, Armstrong and Hockey Canada would have two firm legs to stand on and it wouldn’t make sense to name him to the team, but that information might not be available Dec. 31, and Canada doesn’t need it anyway. Bedard has played his way onto the team this season, so Canada can name him to the roster and then evaluate him like the Blackhawks are going to do in January.
There are Plan Bs and Plan Cs. Bedard might be getting healthy at another time a player Canada picks to be on the Olympic team is injured. The job is to not just pick the best team, it’s to plan for all possible scenarios in selecting that team. Name him, evaluate, and if he can’t play then you replace him. Seems simple to me.
You predicted Cale Makar will re-sign for eight years with an AAV of $16 million. Don’t you think Makar could take less money so the Avalanche have a deeper roster? What if the Avalanche is short money and can offer