Team Canada GM on hardest Olympic hockey decision and why roster flexibility is key
SOURCE:The Athletic|BY:Pierre LeBrun
Doug Armstrong spent the final few weeks agonizing over four roster decisions, two up front, one on D and one in goal.
As Doug Armstrong and Jon Cooper deliberated over the final few decisions, a key point of emphasis was roster flexibility once the puck dropped in Milan.
That line of thinking drove a lot of the final decision-making between the GM and head coach before naming Team Canada’s 25-player Olympic hockey roster Wednesday.
“We know what will happen if injuries happen pre-tournament: We can replace that player,” Armstrong told The Athletic in a phone interview on Wednesday. “But what happens if an injury happens in-tournament? How are we going to adjust our roster? How are we going to make sure that we have the proper players that can go to different spots? There was a lot of sort of rubbing the crystal ball on ‘what if’ scenarios.
“I’ve always believed that our job as management is to provide the coaches with the most tools for the toolbox, and then they have to go to work and create what they want,” added Armstrong. “That’s what Jon and I were discussing on that. What provides us with the greater number of tools?”
Armstrong revealed that when the management group wrapped up three days of face-to-face meetings on Dec. 9, they were “very comfortable with 12 forwards and seven D and two goalies.”
The final three weeks were spent on those last four most agonizing roster decisions, two up front, one on D and one in goal. But again, so much driving it at the end was roster flexibility.
That’s a big reason why Nick Suzuki, Bo Horvat and Macklin Celebrini all made the roster at forward. All three of those guys can play up and down the lineup in different roles. There’s trust in their overall game.
My own belief is that for the longest time, it was a debate between having Suzuki or Horvat. When Team Canada decided to take both, it meant squeezing out another 4 Nations roster player other than Seth Jarvis and Travis Konecny, who were already out.
That ended up being Sam Bennett. And there’s no question that was the hardest decision of all for Team Canada management, not taking last spring’s Conn Smythe Trophy winner and two-time Stanley Cup champion.
“That’s the most difficult part of the process,” said Armstrong. “From a management perspective, you’re a kid in the candy store with the number of options and different scenarios you can put into play. But at the end of the day, you’re picking 25 guys that you believe can represent Canada well, and you’re leaving off guys, too, that you also believe can represent Canada well. That’s a difficult part. Especially when you’ve watched guys perform at their top end and wear the Maple Leaf proud as recently as a year ago. But that’s the benefit and the curse of working for Team Canada, is the number of options.”
Tom Wilson, part of the four newcomers up front, also made the Bennett decision more palatable. Both bring a physical and intimidating dimension. The internal debate right to the end was about whether or not they needed both.
“Nick provides us a solid 200-foot player,” Armstrong said of the Habs captain. “We know that he has the ability to play center and the wing if necessary, and also believe at any time he can touch either side of the special teams. So again, just another multi-dimensional player. Obviously, his points per game total this year, too.”
Celebrini started the season on the outside looking in. He forced his way on with a spectacular season that has him deservedly in the Hart Trophy conversation. He started opening eyes last May for Canada at the IIHF men’s world championship, where he was at ease playing alongside the likes of Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon.
“The comfort level of taking him is what he’s done over the last 14 months,” said Armstrong. “The body of work is only 14 months, where some of these guys have 14 years. But the 14 months have been spectacular. We just wanted to use as much time as possible to create that resume, and at every turn, he’s overachieved the expectations I think of everyone. What he’s doing right now is generational at his age. He’s earned the right to be on this team.”
Connor Bedard, meanwhile, didn’t make it. He, too, pushed Team Canada brass with his superb play this season.
“Yeah, he pushed for sure,” said Armstrong, understandably not wanting to focus too much on the players who didn’t make it. “Again, that’s the benefit and the curse working for Team Canada and selecting a team is the great amount of options, and the curse is you have to pick from those options.”
There will be armchair quarterbacking to be sure for not taking a young offensive superstar like Bedard; that’s to be expected from a passionate hockey country like Canada. And if Team Canada struggles to score enough goals in Milan, that criticism could be warranted in hindsight.
But Team Canada did end up taking seven of the top 10 points-per-game Canadian forwards currently in the NHL. Bedard, Mark Scheifele and Wyatt Johnston were the only three of those 10 forwards left off.
“I think offense is something that we’re comfortable with,” said Armstrong. “It’s just making sure that we had other players that could touch other aspects of the game.”
One of the major talking points within Team Canada post-4 Nations was how hard and heavy the game was, how difficult it was to find open ice.
So the balance of having enough firepower on the roster blended with a need to have enough size and strength, too, was important.
“We wanted to build a team that played inside the dots and be strong in the harder areas of the ice,” said Armstrong. “And we believe we’ve done that with the group that we have with the size and the power.”
As we had speculated earlier this season, both veterans Brad Marchand and Drew Doughty were selected. Their vocal leadership at 4 Nations was very noticeable and much appreciated by the coaching staff. But they had to earn it. Marchand, especially, has been tremendous all season, doubling down on the terrific playoffs he had last spring.
“First and foremost, they made it because their play puts them on this team,” Armstrong said of Doughty and Marchand. “And the benefit of their play is their experience and their leadership and their character. I’ll use a line from Dave Taylor, someone I have a ton of respect for; someone will say, ‘He’s good in the room.’ And his response is, ‘Let me know when they start flooding the room.’
“So, these guys are there because of their play on the ice,’’ added Armstrong. “But I do know that when (Thomas) Harley arrived there last year (midway through 4 Nations), the coaches talked about what a great job Drew did to talk to him and mentor him through situations in-game and share experiences with him. That’s invaluable. But you have to be on the ice to be able to do that.”
In the end, Team Canada brought back all eight defensemen from 4 Nations, which was always a possibility.
“We didn’t go into this with the idea, ‘Let’s bring the band back together.’ We went into this wanting to give ourselves the best opportunity to have success in a new event,’’ said the Team Canada GM. “We kept going back to what they’ve done this year and what their resume is, and all those players’ resumes include the 4 Nations. Working with Pete (DeBoer), who runs the D, we talked about these guys and how they complement each other, what attributes they all brought, and the consensus was this gives us the best chance to win with this group of eight.”
Rookie phenom Matthew Schaefer pushed hard for inclusion on Team Canada, that is for sure.
“We had very difficult decisions to make, and he was certainly one of them,’’ said Armstrong. “He wasn’t the only one on the back end. But we’re excited about the group we have.”
I think Harley was the player most vulnerable not to make it back from 4 Nations, but Team Canada stuck with him.
Evan Bouchard and Jakob Chychrun are also believed to have been in the conversation in the final weeks.
The Bouchard part of it was always taking him as insurance in case something happened to power-play QB Cale Makar.
I think where Team Canada landed was that if something happened to Makar mid-tournament, Josh Morrissey could absolutely handle QB1 duties, and the second power-play unit could maybe go with five forwards.
But the main takeaway for me here is that if someone went down in that D group, the philosophical priority was being able to defend for 60 minutes.
In goal, as we had speculated before, while Armstrong would not confirm it, other league sources said it came down to four names. Jordan Binnington, Logan Thompson and Darcy Kuemper made it; Mackenzie Blackwood was the odd man out.
On Binnington, despite his struggles this year, Team Canada didn’t hesitate to bring him back.
“That was the most interesting part. Because my comfort level with him doesn’t waver. Because I get to work with him every day. And any success I’ve had in St. Louis is on his back,” said the Blues GM.
“But what impressed me the most was how little time the rest of the group thought about what Jordan’s numbers were this year. He carried the same respect from everyone in the group from coaches to management. Which was very impressive. I would say Jordan’s numbers this year are probably more of a byproduct of the team that he’s with right now, which is unfortunate for me because I manage that team. But there’s a belief that if and when Jordan gets the opportunity (for Team Canada), he has the pedigree and the knowledge of how to play in big moments.”
On taking Thompson and Kuemper, Armstrong added: “Thompson over the last two years, his resume now is filled, he’s certainly earned the right to be on this team. And so has Kuemper. He’s just a guy that plays solid hockey for his team right now. He’s a Stanley Cup champion. He’s got pedigree. And so we’re really comfortable with that group of three.”
But the Olympic dream may not be totally over for Blackwood, Bennett, Bedard or Schaefer, etc.
Lots can happen between now and February. Team Canada has a reserve list of players and plans to reach out to those players to ensure they know they’re one injury away from getting that Olympic call.
“We will reach out to a select number of players and ask if they’d like to be part of that list,” said Armstrong. “Because with that list goes the same restraints of being on the team as far as (IOC) drug-testing and stuff like that.”
But next man up will depend on who gets injured (if anyone). If a top-six offensive player gets hurt versus a bottom-six, penalty kill guy, the replacement player could vary.
“We’ve worked a (reserve) list that we think checks a lot of different boxes,’’ Armstrong said. “So if this player gets hurt, and he performs a certain role, what replacement do we want? We’ll want to make sure we keep as many options available so that we take the player that’s playing the best in the area we need him.”
Either way, the debate is far from over, even now that the roster has been named.