Team Canada chose GM Doug Armstrong to run its men's team leading up to the 2026 Olympics. Who'll play in net? Will Sidney Crosby get a spot, no matter what?
Hockey Canada announced Friday that St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong would run Canada’s men’s teams at the 2024 and 2025 IIHF World Championships, the NHL’s Four Nations Faceoff as management lead. He will also be the GM for the 2026 Olympic Games.
As a two-time Stanley Cup championship-winning team architect, Armstrong has the resume any country would want. But that’s not to suggest it will be a cakewalk for Armstrong and his Canadian teams.
Here are the three big questions facing Team Canada under Armstrong. In no particular order:
1. Who will be in net?
As it currently stands, Canada is far from its heyday regarding netminding. Gone are the days when superstar veteran goalies Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo were shoo-ins for the Canadians.
Instead, names such as St. Louis’ Jordan Binnington, Washington’s Darcy Kuemper and Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry are likely to be in the mix at this time next year. Then there are youngsters, such as Vegas’ Adin Hill and Logan Thompson, Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner, Arizona’s Connor Ingram, New Jersey’s Nico Daws and Buffalo’s Devon Levi. Any one of those netminders could be operating at an elite level a dozen months from now.
Armstrong can afford to be patient at the moment, see which netminders ascend to the top of the goaltending pyramid and hand out roster spots much closer to each tournament. But right now, there will be a lot of healthy competition for Canada’s goalies, and that can’t be a bad thing. It’s a pure meritocracy between the pipes for the Canadians, and it will be fascinating to see who steps up and grabs the brass ring.
2. Skill or higher-end role players in the depth roster spots?
Although it seems straightforward that Armstrong will likely choose to go with the best pure talents at each position, Canada does have a history in best-on-best competitions of surrounding its star performers with above-average role players. Think longtime NHLer Rob Zamuner, who represented Canada at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Zamuner won a spot on the team, while star center Mark Messier did not.
There’s going to be another number of elite Canadian players who are left off the roster no matter how Armstrong chooses to proceed with his teams. Still, the real question is whether Armstrong goes with the most talented players up and down his lineup or pinpoints tactically sound NHL talents to play blue-collar roles, such as Travis Konecny, Anthony Cirelli, Jordan Staal and Brandon Hagel.
3. Will there be legacy spots for veteran stars in the twilight of their NHL careers?
By the time the 2025 Four Nations Faceoff is contested, star Canadian centers Sidney Crosby and John Tavares will be 37 and 34 years old, respectively. Meanwhile, star defenseman Drew Doughty will be 35 next year.
Does Armstrong envision leaving spaces open for those veterans based strictly on their experience at elite tournaments, or will Crosby, Tavares and Doughty have to earn their roster spot just like anyone else?
Perhaps the answer is a little bit of both. We can see a scenario in which Crosby makes the team because he’s Sidney Freaking Crosby, and Tavares could be left off the roster because there are simply younger and better competitors down the middle.
Armstrong can’t make the Canadian team a country club environment where veterans are expectant of key roles with the team. But so long as Crosby is healthy, it’s tough to envision him not wearing the maple leaf and representing his country as well as he’s always represented Canada.
A Canadian team without Crosby would be second-guessed to high heaven, so we see Armstrong saving a roster spot for “Sid the Kid.” But just about everyone else will have to earn their spot on Canada’s roster.