Morgan Geekie has 50 goals in 2025. So does Nathan MacKinnon. The Boston Bruins wing has one more opportunity on Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks to pull ahead of MacKinnon and finish with the most goals of any NHL player this calendar year. That Geekie is even tied with MacKinnon is a feather in his cap.

The 27-year-old’s rocket-ship ride to the NHL’s goal-scoring summit is one of the league’s most unexpected developments. In 2021, the Carolina Hurricanes did not protect Geekie in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. Two years later, the Kraken designated Geekie as unworthy of a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Such fairy tales, however, have no place in a business as serious as Hockey Canada’s finalization of its 2026 Olympic roster. 

Geekie was informed on Wednesday that he did not make Canada’s final roster. In one way, it was an expected conclusion. The native of Strathclair, Man., did not play for Canada in last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off. The Canadians had more well-rounded options, including Mitch Marner, Mark Stone and Tom Wilson. Like Geekie, they are right shots. Unlike Geekie, they kill penalties. 

Geekie was realistic about his odds. He had the bad luck, if you can call it that, of owning a Canadian passport. Other federations would have been happy to bring Geekie and his Bauer Vapor Flylite to the Olympics.

But Canada may regret leaving one of its top goal scorers at home. The 4 Nations tournament proved that during best-on-best international play, putting pucks in nets is a difficult task to execute.

Geekie makes it look easy.

Canada beat the United States in the 4 Nations title game, 3-2 in overtime. Even with MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Cale Makar, the Canadians did not pour on the offensive firepower. None of the four teams really did, aside from the Americans in a 6-1 win over Finland. 

On the whole, the world’s best players contested every attempt. There was little offensive daylight.

That should not change in Italy.

It is all well and good, then, that coach Jon Cooper can roll out a cluster of two-way forwards depending on the situation. The last thing Cooper wants is a missed defensive assignment that leads to an odd-man rush. He likes multi-tool players.

Geekie is not one of them.

Marco Sturm, Joe Sacco and Jim Montgomery, the three coaches who have determined Geekie’s deployment since 2023, have all declined to use him on the penalty kill or in matchup situations. Perhaps Geekie could shine in such environments if granted the opportunity. But Geekie’s coaches believed his strengths lie elsewhere. 

Nobody knows players better than their coaches. Sturm, Geekie’s latest boss, recognizes that he has faster and quicker forwards who are more helpful away from the puck. His top speed this season is 22.18 m.p.h., which places him in the league’s 57th percentile. If we saw anything at 4 Nations, it was action involving Formula 1 pace.