Tom Wilson over Connor Bedard for the Olympics? Why Canada could make the controversial call – The Athletic

In the debriefs Team Canada had after February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, one observation kept coming up.

It was unmistakable how heavy and hard the game was as best-on-best hockey returned for the first time in nine years — and how difficult that made it for elite players to find open ice.

Team USA felt the same way.

Not to pick on him, but as one example, many thought that U.S. forward Jack Hughes was pushed out of the game at times. He’s not alone. And he’ll be better for it come Milan. He’s a superstar, and the experience at 4 Nations will be a great tool to get him ready for the Olympics.

But the point here is that in their Olympic roster conversations, both Canada and the U.S. are looking to find a balance between speed and skill and size and strength.

They’re not building All-Star Game rosters. They’re building well-balanced teams to win Olympic gold.

That’s why, fair or not, there will be names left off each roster that will make fans and media protest loudly.

Which brings me to the case of Tom Wilson. If Team Canada could have one mulligan from 4 Nations — and I mean, they did still win — it would be leaving the Washington Capitals winger off that roster.

No, it’s not just because of the three fights in nine seconds in the round-robin game between the U.S. and Canada — although it sure would have been fun to see how Wilson would have factored in there. It’s because what Wilson brings to the ice is a rare commodity in the modern game. The power forward leads the Washington Capitals in goals (11) and is tied for the team lead in points (20 in 21 games). He leads all Caps forwards in ice time. He kills penalties. And he terrorizes opposing defensemen on the forecheck.

Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong was in Washington on Wednesday, scouting the Caps’ game against the Edmonton Oilers. There were Olympic candidates on both rosters to watch. But make no mistake about it, Armstrong was definitely keeping a close eye on Wilson, a player Team Canada has scouted live on a number of occasions this season.

I’m not ready to say Wilson is a lock to make the 25-man roster, because I don’t think he is. But league sources confirm he is absolutely in the mix as Team Canada’s list keeps shrinking. There’s a very realistic shot he makes it when rosters are submitted Dec. 31.

The idea behind it would be that once Team Canada cements its top-six forwards — the players who will carry the offense — it will want players who fill certain roles in the bottom six. Yes, still score goals, but also defend and kill penalties. Wilson on a Team Canada fourth line could make sense.

The one fear with Wilson is whether his physical style goes too far in the IIHF game. The Olympics will be a 50-50 blend of NHL and IIHF referees, but it’s IIHF rules, which don’t allow as much borderline stuff to go. So there is that. But Wilson’s unique skill set and ability to defend and kill penalties are very alluring to Team Canada.

It is the same reason Connor Bedard still isn’t a sure thing to make Team Canada, despite his offensive explosion (13 goals and 29 points in 20 games). Internally, I believe Team Canada is struggling to figure out where it would put Bedard if he’s not in the top six. They just may not trust him enough defensively.

Now, Bedard has been so freaking good offensively that some would argue he should be in the top six outright.

Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Sam Reinhart and Brayden Point were the five forwards already named to Team Canada’s Olympic roster in June (as well as defenseman Cale Makar). The first three forwards above are guaranteed, of course, to be top in the top six. And Point likely will be, as well, if he’s on the wing like he was at 4 Nations. Reinhart, a two-time Cup champion who got Selke Trophy votes last season, can play anywhere.

I also believe Team Canada is being won over by Macklin Celebrini and his 200-foot game. The Crosby qualities in Celebrini’s game are hard to miss, and I think Team Canada would trust him anywhere in the lineup despite his inexperience — and the complete unknown of how he would react on the biggest stage of his life in the Olympics. But he looked like a veteran at the IIHF World Championship in the spring playing alongside Crosby and MacKinnon.

If Team Canada was announced today, I think Celebrini would be on it. I don’t think Bedard would be, but he continues to make a stronger and stronger case. There are still five weeks to go.

But in trying to project this roster, it’s important to understand Canada’s process and what management and coaches in the leadership group are looking for. Stanley Cup playoff experience, World Championship and international experience, 4 Nations returnees — these are all things that can help a player make it.

But trust in a player’s 200-foot game is also paramount. Forwards like Bo Horvat, Wyatt Johnston and Nick Suzuki, for example, can play up and down the lineup and be trusted over 200 feet. That’s why those guys remain in the conversation among the 35 to 40 players still on the list.

The fear in leaving Bedard off the roster, to be sure, is that people will look back at it the same way many do now with Crosby being left off the 2006 Canadian Olympic team. I was at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, and it would have taken more than an 18-year-old Crosby to get that Team Canada over the hump. That team was caught between generations, had key injuries and never came together. That happens sometimes in a short tournament.

Still, it’s easy now to look back, given Canada’s performance in that Olympics, and say Crosby should have been there.

We’ll see where it ultimately ends up with Bedard. Or Wilson.

But whether one agrees with the ultimate decision or not, I think it’s important to understand what’s going into it.

Steve Yzerman, architect of the 2010 and 2014 Olympic gold medal-winning Canadian teams, said it best to me earlier this season when discussing the pressure of picking an Olympic team.

“Any team that’s picked — you pick a team, I pick a team, Army (Armstrong) picks a team — it’s going to be a good team because Canada has so many good players, he said. “Hopefully you win, and if you don’t win, you didn’t pick the right team.”