To say that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Evan Bouchard were all deserving of consideration for Team Canada suggests that the roster is only 25 men deep, and that putting someone on means taking someone off. That's tough to do on a stacked team that includes some of the best Canadian players in the world. It's an embarrassment of riches. 

Still, as Connor McDavid and fans of the Edmonton Oilers awaited the official announcement of the Team Canada roster on Wednesday, the hope was that three Oilers, who ultimately didn't make the cut, had at least made the decision by Team Canada management to leave them off the roster difficult. 

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In Zach Hyman's case, the argument would be his chemistry with McDavid. One of the concerns at the Four Nations tournament was that McDavid didn't really find chemistry on a line with anyone, so having someone on Team Canada with whom he gels was key. Hyman, on his own, deserved consideration. Injured to start the 2025-26 season, he's come on strong. He has 11 goals and 21 points in 21 games since his return. He can score, retrieve pucks, forecheck hard, and battle as much as anyone. 

But putting Hyman on would have meant taking someone off like Mitch Marner, Sam Reinhart, Mark Stone, Nick Suzuki, and Tom Wilson.  It would have been hard for Team Canada to make that call. 

In the case of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Team Canada would have had a versatile two-way player who could play in all special teams situations. Also having an incredible season, Nuge can kill penalties and play on the power play. But having him on meant leaving off Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel. It was unlikely that head coach Jon Cooper -- who coaches both players in Tampa Bay -- was likely to leave his own guys off.  They have chemistry with each other on the PK, and admittedly, that matters. 

Evan Bouchard was an intriguing blue-line option. As gifted offensively as anyone, he's on par with Cale Makar as the kind of d-man who could produce from the back end. Instead, Team Canada went with an identical defense corps from the Four Nations Faceoff tournament.

That's been a polarizing decision among the fans. To leave off Bouchard -- clearly a better offensive player than several options who made the cut -- his ups and downs and highs and lows likely impacted his being under consideration.

Then again, it sounds like Team Canada had their minds made up on the blue line some time ago. 

McDavid Was Clearly Disappointed...

Will any of these three remain on the radar in the event of injuries? Sure. There was also a lot of chatter about how Sam Bennett and others were left off the roster. They'll be in consideration too. Connor Bedard and Matthew Schaefer didn't make the roster either, and GM Doug Armstrong said they are in the primary group of players they will watch over the next month.  

For McDavid, who was rooting for his own games, it's a bit of a letdown.

McDavid said, "Obviously disappointed for the Oilers guys... Different year, different situation, obviously they could be on the team." He added, "I think this team could have been built a number of different ways, and obviously, this is the way they decided to go. with it."

"It's getting more and more real by the day," he ended with. McDavid is disappointed that his own guys didn't make it, but he gets that has to shift gears and focus on the Oilers playing well until the break, and then Team Canada in February. 

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