Considering the appearance McLean Celebrini As one of the NHL's most promising young talents, it's no surprise that he was named to Canada's squad for Milan Cortina 2026, despite becoming just the second teenager to represent Canada in the best-of-the-best tournament.
His choice really stood out to two other Canadian young men, Connor Bedard And Matthew Schaeferwhich were notable omissions from Wednesday's lineup announcement.
“It's very difficult because there are so many quality players here,” Canadian general manager Doug Armstrong said. “Not a single player left this team – only 25 guys moved on.”
Bedard, selected first overall. Chicago Blackhawks Shot out of the net this season, the 2023 senior ranked third in the NHL in scoring with 44 points in 31 games before suffering an upper-body injury on Dec. 12.
At the time, it was thought that the injury would be the nail in Bedard's Olympic coffin – however, Armstrong insists the injury did not have much influence on his decision to leave the North Vancouver, British Columbia native out of the lineup.
“His name was there until the last second because we could have called him and moved forward, but I think the reality is that there are so many good players and we just had to make difficult decisions,” he added.
Armstrong also discussed the decision to leave Schaefer, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft, off the roster—a choice perhaps not as shocking as the fact that the 18-year-old was in the conversation from the start.
“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 performance is exemplary. Like I said, I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about players who didn't make the team, but for me this is a special occasion because we're talking about him being an 18-year-old kid who's going to play in the Olympics.”
“He's fantastically talented, he brings you out every night. He's mature beyond his years, both on and off the ice. I was shocked at how quickly he came into our conversations, and that's a credit to him. The Islanders are very lucky, and hockey is very lucky, to have such a young player on the horizon.”
Schaefer leads rookie defense this season in scoring with 25 points (9 goals, 16 assists) in 40 games while averaging 23:52 of ice time, the most of any NHL rookie.
Canada's first game at the Olympic tournament is Feb. 12 against the Czech Republic.
— With files from The Canadian Press
