Canadian Olympic Men's Hockey Team

With the Olympics coming to a close and the Canadian team eliminated in the quarterfinals, it’s a good time to take a look at our final “What Could Have Been”. While this one obviously hits closest to home, the Canadian team has been assembled in a manner free of bias, and by God is it beautiful.

The Roster

Analysis

This is one of the most impressive groups of forwards ever assembled. The defensemen are pretty incredible as well, but the goalies are by far the worst of the teams who would have been contenders. I wish I’d had the chance to see this team in action, but I know I would have been scared every step of the way because of the goaltending.

Up front, this team is absolutely gross. Connor McDavid is the undisputed best player in the NHL, and there is a real argument that Nathan MacKinnon is the second-best. A first line that featured both of them, along with current NHL point-scoring leader Jonathan Huberdeau, would have been something to behold. It’s hard to believe that any other team could have produced a defensive pair that could keep up with these guys. MacKinnon might have had to step up and be the scorer on this line, but I have a lot of faith in him. It’s crazy to believe that a team finally exists where Sidney Crosby is a second-liner, but this would be that special of a team. I’ve put him with Stamkos, who is back to being a very high scorer and could light it up if he gets hot, and Stone, who has had some injury issues but is ultra-reliable at both ends when he plays. The third line is two thirds of the way to perfection, but Brayden Point will fill in well on the wing and provide some of the goal-scoring ability that Pastrnak provides the trio in Boston. The final line could be a bit more inconsistent, but is still pretty impressive. Marner and Scheifele are both high-end talents when they’re at their best but can also go cold sometimes, while O’Reilly is more reliable and incredibly defensively sound. Tavares makes the cut as the 13th forward, but he’s not as good in his own zone as a lot of the other players, so I’d be reluctant to sub him into the bottom half of the lineup.

On defense, I’ve gone for a bit of a COVID-appropriate format by plucking two pairs straight from NHL teams. I’m not trying to suggest that Devon Toews is one of the top two Canadian defensemen right now, but he’s gelled remarkably well with Cale Makar this year, and Makar is the very best there is. On the second pair, Pietrangelo is a veteran presence and can act in a shut-down role if the Makar pair gets more offensive opportunities. On his left, Theodore has developed into a star in his own right, but he certainly benefits from his chemistry with his frequent Vegas defensive partner. Aaron Ekblad is a lock to make the team, on the final pair only due to the strength on the right side. For that same reason, I’ve added Drew Doughty on the left side of the third pair even though he’s a righty; his offensive resurgence this year has been hard to deny and I like his championship pedigree as well. However, if Doughty starts to make bad decisions or can’t keep up, Morgan Reilly is a very capable replacement.

While there would have been some difficult decisions regarding who gets cut amongst the skaters, the hardest decision would have absolutely been picking a starting goalie. I feel confident that Jarry, Kuemper and Fleury would have been the best options, but none of them would have got mixed up with Andrei Vasilevski. Jarry has the best stats in terms of GAA and save percentage (2.20 and .925 respectively, which are actually quite good) but suffered from significant consistency issues last season. Kuemper has the best winning percentage this year, but he also plays for the best team in Colorado, so frankly he should win. Finally, Fleury has seen it all and won it all, but his play this year has left a lot to be desired. At the end of the day, I’ve given Jarry the nod because of his superior stats, but I acknowledge that he would have been one bad game away from losing his spot.

Ultimately, I do think this team would have translated its obscene star power into success, but sadly I don’t know if I would have picked them to win the gold. In a single-elimination format, I fear that they might have had one bad goaltending game or somehow got shut out by a superior goalie despite deserving to win. No matter what, I wish I could have seen this team in action, because it may be a long time before a forward group of this caliber is assembled again.

If you want to comment on my selections or what team you would have favoured in the tournament, please reply in the comments!

*Sources: QuantHockey, NHL.com