According to NHL.com's All-Star Game roster projection, Montreal Canadiens' Nick Suzuki is likely to miss the weekend's festivities.
The NHL has announced a new format for the All-Star Game this season; it will be a mini-tournament featuring five teams: Team Canada, Team USA, Team Finland, Team Sweden and Team World, which will allow players who are not from one of the four countries to get an opportunity to play. It’s hardly surprising to see the NHL try to rejuvenate the ASG formula, which had become stale and in which players didn’t really want to partake anymore.
By appealing to the players’ national pride, the NHL is capitalizing on the nationalism that seems to be all the rage right now, especially with several American players attempting to be traded to American teams. The league has released projected rosters for the five teams, and no Montreal Canadiens player has been predicted to make the cut for Team Canada, despite Habs captain Nick Suzuki shining very brightly for the country at the 2026 Olympics.
Suzuki is just one of several players who flew the Canadian flag for the Olympics but couldn’t find a spot in NHL.com’s ASG projected roster. Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, Bo Horvat, Colton Parayko, Devon Toews, Drew Doughty, Darcy Kuemper, Josh Morrissey, Mark Stone, Sam Reinhart, Seth Jarvis, Shea Theodore, Thomas Harley, Tom Wilson and Travis Sanheim are all predicted to miss out.
It’s hardly surprising considering how small the rosters are, with just two goalies and nine skaters. Furthermore, the prediction seems to be about ready to usher in a new era: Conor Bedard and Matthew Schaefer, who both missed out on the Olympics, are now projected to be in.
Given the fact that the ASG rosters will largely be dependent on fan votes, it’s not all that surprising to see some of the hottest young stars find a spot. Bedard and Schaefer are joined by Macklin Celebrini, Sidney Crosby, Brandon Hagel, Nathan MacKinnon, Mitch Marner, Cale Makar, Connor McDavid, Logan Thompson and Jordan Binnington, who should complete the lineup according to the prediction. It wouldn’t be surprising to see first-overall pick Gavin McKenna make an appearance either, if he does have the kind of season everyone expects from him.
While Suzuki would have been crushed to miss the Olympics last February, it’s highly unlikely that he would mind very much about missing the ASG weekend. After all, a bit of rest before attacking the last part of the season certainly can’t hurt.
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