Connor McDavid will be the lone Edmonton Oilers player representing Team Canada at the 4-Nations Face-Off , as the front office has left Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard and Stuart Skinner off their roster.
News leaked out Tuesday with none of the three on the roster, despite Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin including Hyman and Bouchard in his final projected roster.
Canada opts for a blue line featuring Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Shea Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo, Josh Morrissey, Colton Parayko and Travis Sanheim for the tournament. While the argument here is likely that Bouchard doesn’t fit on this roster as a “power play quarterback,” the truth of the matter is he’s anything but.
In fact, there’s an argument to be made that Bouchard’s been better than any of these players this season. Looking at per-hour rates at five-on-five this season, Bouchard ranks ahead of all these defencemen in terms of shot attempts against, shots against, expected goals against, scoring chances against, and high-danger scoring chances against. Where he gets a slight knock is in actual goals against per hour, but his 2.68 rate is still ahead of Sanheim, Parayko and Pietrangelo.
Hyman also has found himself snubbed from the roster, with the Canadian team carrying the following 13 forwards: McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, Brayden Point, Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, Travis Konecny, Mitch Marner, Sam Reinhart, Mark Stone and Seth Jarvis.
Canada clearly didn’t feel as if Hyman had what it takes to make this team, something that’s quite surprising, with them opting for more role players in depth positions. Hyman, however, could go toe-to-toe with any of them in terms of playing a tenacious brand of hockey, as he’s made a name for himself over the last three years as one of the hardest-working players in the league. A dog on pucks, it’s led to him scoring 120 goals and 222 points in his last 255 regular season games, to go along with an additional 30 goals and 49 points in 53 playoff games.
Hyman’s season hasn’t gone to plan so far for the Oilers this season, scoring just three goals and eight points in 20 games. Despite his lack of production, it hasn’t been for lack of trying. On a per-hour rate at five-on-five among those other forwards selected, he ranks second in individual expected goals, third in scoring chances, and first in high-danger scoring chances.
Skinner not making the final roster isn’t a huge shock, with Canada opting to take Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault. His struggles to start the year likely impacted his chances, as he’s gone 8-7-2 in 17 games with a .889 save percentage and 2.97 goals against average.
There’s still a chance Hyman, Bouchard and Skinner could make the final roster if there are injuries to any of the players on the current roster.
McDavid was among the first players named to Team Canada’s roster, along with MacKinnon, Crosby, Point, Marchand and Makar. For the Oilers captain, the 4-Nations Face-Off will represent the third time he’s represented Canada on the national stage as a professional player.
In McDavid’s rookie season, he played for the national team in the 2018 World Championships, where he scored one goal and nine points in 10 games as the Canadian side won Gold for the 26th time. In 2017 he played for Team North American in the World Cup of Hockey, notching three assists in as many games, while he also played for Canada in the 2018 World Championships, scoring five goals and 17 points in 10 games, as Canada came in fourth place.
McDavid’s junior career saw him represent Team Canada multiple times, twice at the World Juniors scoring four goals and 15 points in 14 games in 2014 and 2015, and the u18’s in 2013, scoring eight goals and 14 points in seven games. In 2013, he also took part in the u17 World Hockey Championships for Canada-Ontario, scoring six goals and nine points in five games.
The tournament takes place between February 12th and February 20th, with the NHL holding it in Montreal and Boston in lieu of an All-Star Game.
Two other Oilers players will play in the tournament, as Viktor Arvidsson and Mattias Ekholm were named to Sweden’s roster.
