Given the emergence of Macklin Celebrini as one of the NHL's most promising young talents, it shouldn't come as a surprise he was named to Canada's roster for Milano Cortina 2026, even as he becomes just the second teenager to represent Canada in a best-on-best tournament.
His selection did highlight two other Canadian youngsters, Connor Bedard and Matthew Schaefer, who were notable omissions in Wednesday's roster announcement.
"It's very difficult because there are so many worthy players here," Canadian general manager Doug Armstrong said. "Not one player played their way off this team — just 25 guys played their way on."
Bedard, chosen first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2023, shot out of the gate this season and was tied for third in NHL scoring with 44 points in 31 games before sustaining an upper-body injury Dec. 12.
At the time, it was believed that the injury would be the nail in Bedard's Olympic coffin — Armstrong, however, insists the injury bore little weight in his decision to leave the North Vancouver, B.C., native off the roster.
"His name was right there until the last second, because we could have named him and moved forward, but I think the reality is there are so many good players and we just had difficult decisions to make," he added.
Armstrong elaborated on the decision on Real Kyper and Bourne on Wednesday afternoon.
"It's like when you make a trade — when you trade someone, I don't hope they go somewhere and fail so I look good. I hope (Schaefer and Bedard) have great, great pushes from here on out."
The St. Louis Blues general manager said he wasn't sure if he could find a spot in the lineup that gave Bedard the best chance to succeed.
"Bedard is a hell of a player. I don't want to take anything away from him. But when I look at our roster, and I look at the way our wings — I would view him as a winger on this roster — are constructed, where he would excel in a tournament like this, as a scoring player, who we have in scoring positions, we felt that we're excited about the guys we have on our team."
Armstrong also discussed the decision to leave Schaefer, the 2025 first-overall pick, off the roster — a choice maybe not as shocking as the fact the 18-year-old was in the conversation to begin with.
"I'll be honest, he wasn't on my radar at the start of the season," Armstrong said, when asked how close the teenager was to making the team. "His play is exemplary. As I said, I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about players who didn't make the team, but to me, this is a special occasion because he's an 18-year-old man 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. The Islanders are very lucky and hockey is very lucky to have a young player like that coming onto the horizon."
Schaefer is leading the scoring among rookie defencemen this season, collecting 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists) in 40 games while averaging 23:52 on ice — the most of any first-year NHLer.
Canada's first game of the Olympic tournament is Feb. 12 against Czechia.
— With files from Canadian Press
