13 biggest snubs from Canada's Olympic men's hockey roster
Canada is blessed to have a plethora of talented hockey players.
And inevitably, players who deserved to be on the team weren’t going to make the cut.
Canada released their 25-man roster for the Olympics on Thursday morning, with six new players making the team who weren’t there at the 4 Nations tournament.
In terms of the players who were excluded from the Olympics, here were the 13 biggest snubs.
1. Connor Bedard
This stands out as arguably Canada’s biggest mistake.
Connor Bedard has authored his most impressive NHL season to date, racking up 44 points in 31 games.
His 1.42 points-per-game ranks seventh overall among all NHLers, and fifth overall among Canadians, behind only Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Mark Stone.
2. Sam Bennett
When the games matter, Sam Bennett plays his best.
The 29-year-old has been a huge reason why the Florida Panthers have won back-to-back Stanley Cups, which was evident by the fact that he won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP back in June.
3. Mark Scheifele
After being snubbed from the 4 Nations tournament, Mark Scheifele did everything he could to make Canada’s Olympic team.
Even though the Winnipeg Jets have endured a tough 2025-26 campaign, that isn’t on Scheifele. The 32-year-old is sixth among all Canadian NHLers with 45 points in 37 games this season.
4. Travis Konecny
The emergence of Tom Wilson this season hurt Travis Konecny’s chances of making the Olympic team.
Although Konecny has had a decent season, Tom Wilson has posted similar stats, while having a bigger physical impact compared to the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Philadelphia Flyers forward.
Konecny was one of three of Canada’s 4 Nations forward who didn’t make the Olympic team.
5. Seth Jarvis
Much like Konecny, Seth Jarvis fell victim to the numbers game.
With other players like Celebrini and Wilson emerging, it left a guy like Jarvis, who made the 4 Nations squad, on the outside looking in.
6. Wyatt Joyhnston
Wyatt Johnston’s name wasn’t mentioned much during the 4 Nations process, but perhaps it should have been.
The Dallas Stars forward has 45 points this season. Only McDavid, MacKinnon and Celebrini have more among Canadian NHLers.
7. Morgan Geekie
No player in the NHL scored more goals than Morgan Geekie in the 2025 calendar year.
He proved that last year’s 33-goal outburst wasn’t a fluke, as he’s tied for second in the NHL this season with 25 goals in 40 games. Only MacKinnon has scored more in 2025-26.
8. Evan Bouchard
Canada elected to run back the exact same defence that they won with at the 4 Nations tournament.
However, Canada definitely left some offensive firepower from the defence on the sidelines. Evan Bouchard’s 37 points this season are second only to Cale Makar among all NHL defencemen.
9. Matthew Schaefer
No one would have predicted that 18-year-old Matthew Schaefer would be in the Olympic conversation, but he earned that right with an incredible rookie performance with the New York Islanders.
His 25 points this season are seventh among all Canadian defenceman, he skates like the wind, and his defensive impact is comparable to defencemen such as Colton Parayko, Travis Sanheim and Devon Toews, all of whom made the team.
Schaefer’s also had a much better season than fellow left-shot defenceman Thomas Harley, who was named to Canada’s team after playing at the 4 Nations.
10. Noah Dobson
Although Lane Hutson garners most of the attention among Montreal Canadiens defencemen, Noah Dobson has had a successful first season with the Habs as well.
He’s played some of the most minutes against top competition so far this season, he kills penalties, and his 27 points rank sixth among Canadian defencemen in 2025-26.
Dobson was arguably a better pick than half of the defencemen named to the team, including Parakyo, Sanheim, Harley and Drew Doughty.
11. Mike Matheson
Another Canadiens defenceman who has somewhat flown under the radar, Mike Matheson, has been a minute-munching machine for the Habs.
No defencemen in Canada has averaged more ice time than Matheson’s 25:05 this season. Not even Makar.
Matheson also leads all Canadian defencemen with 4:14 of average ice time per game shorthanded so far this season.
12. Jacob Chychrun
Once considered an offensive blueliner who’s subpar in his own end, Jacob Chychrun’s defensive impact has improved compared to past years.
He’s played like a legitimate, number-one defenceman for the Capitals this season. His 15 NHL goals are also more than any other defenceman in Canada. Chychrun and Makar are the only Canadian blueliners who have scored more than 10 goals this season.
13. MacKenzie Blackwood
Jordan Binnington’s inclusion on Canada’s Olympic team wasn’t a surprise, even though he’s struggled this year.
However, if Canada were picking their goalies solely based on their performance this season, MacKenzie Blackwood would have made the team.
The Thunder Bay, Ontario native has been stellar for the Colorado Avalanche ever since joining them last season. He’s 12-1-1 this year with a .924 save percentage, which leads the NHL.