With the roster construction of some of the Olympic teams like Canada and U.S.A., decisions and biases play a part in who is selected and who is kept off. As one of the most deserving and big future pieces of Team Canada, leaving Connor Bedard off of the initial selection and then passing him over for two injury replacements was a very bold move.
The general manager for Team Canada is Doug Armstrong of the St. Louis Blues. The head coach is Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning. While it's tough to argue Brandon Hagel and Brayden Point were definitely not deserving, it's another discussion to think Canada couldn't do better than Jordan Binnington, Colton Parayko, and Anthony Cirelli.
As two figures at the helm of making roster decisions, the team was loaded up with talent that they were familiar with rather than players having amazing seasons, like Bedard.
Not only does the bias come from the players on the Blues and Lightning, but there was a bias to bring back most of the team from the 4 Nations Faceoff, whether they were selected initially or brought in as an injury replacement. Two goalies (Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault) as well as Travis Konecny aren't returning at this time.
Injury replacements for Point and Cirelli were Sam Bennett and Seth Jarvis. While Bennett was deserving of getting the call back for Canada, there were many other choices better than Jarvis, even if he is a locker room guy. Armstrong said they have a list of player types that would be replacements for certain injuries. Bedard seemed like a great replacement for Point.
Beyond that, there may be a bias towards Central Division players as the Blues constantly play teams like the Chicago Blackhawks (Bedard) and Winnipeg Jets (Mark Scheifele). Or a rival like the Edmonton Oilers, where Armstrong took Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, because Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard haven't gotten looks despite the seasons they're having as well.
Finally, there may be a bias towards younger players. Only Macklin Celebrini made the team, while Bedard, Wyatt Johnston, Matthew Schaefer, and Jet Greaves were left off. But players like Drew Doughty and Binnington, who are veterans having bad seasons, made the team with ease.
It's a problem that maybe NHL-associated management shouldn't be in charge of selecting Team Canada in the future and there should be a set GM and coaches for that.
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