Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard did not make it onto the roster of Team Canada. They settled for Silver without him.
The Chicago Blackhawks only had one Olympian. That was Teuvo Teravainen of Team Finland. He and his Finnish teammates claimed Bronze with a win on Saturday over Slovakia.
There were a couple of other players in the organization who were in consideration at the beginning of the year, but Teravainen was always the only lock.
One of the Blackhawks snubs was Connor Bedard. In 2025-26, he started to look like the top player that the Blackhawks were hoping for when they selected him first overall in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Team Canada is deep. They could realistically make two teams, and they'd both compete for a Medal at the Olympics.
With that said, Bedard was right there with Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Macklin Celebrini for the scoring league when he went down with an injury. He returned with time to spare before the Olympic break, however, and he was putting up numbers worthy of consideration.
Hockey Canada opted not to take him. Anyone who made it over him deserves it as well, but they did just settle for Silver with the team that they did take.
When Sidney Crosby went down with an injury, they didn't have Bedard to slot into an offensive spot at even strength and on the power play. Having his shot and playmaking may have made an impact along the way.
Canada made it to the Gold Medal Game, but they needed two overtime winners to get there in the quarter and semi-finals. If anything, Bedard helps with generating offense.
Canada also only scored one goal on Connor Hellebuyck of Team USA in the final game of the season. That was not enough, as Jack Hughes was the first player to find a second goal for his team in overtime.
In the NHL, playing for the Blackhawks, Bedard has scored five goals against Hellebuyck, who would be manning the net for the Winnipeg Jets. He always seems to find the back of the net when he's going against the Winnipeg net-minder.
There is a chance that Bedard could have made an impact in this Gold Medal Game, but he was on the ice for Blackhawks practice not long after the end of the game.
Expect Bedard to be incredibly motivated. He is a proud player who claimed he would have done anything to be on Team Canada. Now, his next chance will come in 2030 when the games go to France.
It won't take four more years to prove that he is worthy of this team, but that's how long he'll have to wait. Maybe a roster spot in the World Cup of Hockey will get his feet wet in international competition.
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