The process of selecting an Olympic hockey team for Canada is always based on filling roles more so than taking the 25 most talented players.

That is what makes the process so difficult. Extremely talented players are left off because the prime roles are filled by more talented or experienced players. Whether a player kills penalties, can play on either side on defense or can play at center or wing up front, which way they shoot, all of it matters in building a team. And Canada has the deepest pool of talented and experienced players to choose from in the world.

Whenever a Team Canada is announced, it is almost always said that they could put together a B-team that would compete for a medal.

It is said because it is true.

And even in the process of selecting a B-team, some very deserving and talented players are left off because of the sheer number of varied options available.

So here, then, is our version of Canada’s B-team, with a breakdown and thought process for each position group.

Forwards

Canada’s B-team is lucky to be able to anchor its offense around Connor Bedard, one of the most electrifying players in the world, and someone who frankly belongs on the real Team Canada. A similar argument could be made for Seth Jarvis, Sam Bennett and Mark Scheifele, but Canada B will gladly take them as well.

In selecting our forwards, however, some deserving names were left off, perhaps most notably John Tavares and Nazem Kadri. We decided instead to lean in hard on youthful talent, which might be a mistake in the long run, but the way the NHL is trending, this seems like a smart risk. Our oldest forward is 34-year-old Nashville Predators center Ryan O’Reilly, who we’ve projected as a 13th forward who can still get minutes as a left-side faceoff specialist, designated penalty-killer and a late-game lead protector.

Otherwise, Zach Hyman (33), Scheifele (32), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (32) and Carter Verhaeghe (30) are our only other forwards on the wrong side of 30.

We also wanted to ensure a good balance of left and right shots, which hurt the candidacies of players such as Steven Stamkos, Drake Batherson and Mathew Barzal, all of whom shoot from the right side. Ultimately, the 14th forward spot went to Dylan Guenther, also a right shot, over those three players. Even with that as a priority, we still wound up with only six left shots out of the 14 forwards and each of our top three lines only has one left shooter: Bedard, Nugent-Hopkins and Verhaeghe.

The ability to pair Nugent-Hopkins with Hyman – linemates with the Edmonton Oilers – on a second line seemed like a natural fit. And though someone such as Bennett could easily play further up the lineup — an argument could be made that he could center the top line if Bedard were moved to the wing – a fourth line combination of Bennett, Quinton Byfield and Travis Konecny appears to be an excellent checking line.