The long-awaited best-on-best competition, the 4 Nations Face-Off, is just a few weeks away now. After naming the initial rosters back in December, almost every team got through the last month and a half virtually unscathed.
Unfortunately, that looks to have changed with the recent injuries to Jacob Markstrom, William Karlsson, and apparently Alex Pietrangelo. Although teams have a bit more time to name injury replacements, the speculation has already started.
Many have linked Edmonton Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard to the open roster spot, but the chance of that happening is slim.
The ship has sailed
Bouchard was considered to be a lock all last year and during the summer for Team Canada’s blueline. Then he got on the ice to start the 2024–25 season and things just weren’t the same. By no means is Bouchard having an awful season, but leading up to the roster decisions, the Oilers weren’t playing like the Oilers and Bouchard hadn’t been putting up numbers the same way he was the season prior.
It was a disappointment but not a shock that he was left off the team.
Fast forward to Sunday when it was announced that Pietrangelo would not be participating in the tournament and many assumed that Bouchard would be one of the next in line to make the team. Per Elliotte Friedman, the names at the top of Team Canada’s list include Drew Doughty, MacKenzie Weegar, Brandon Montour, and Chris Tanev. Doughty is the clear betting favourite and is likely to make the team should his return from injury not make him seem like a liability.
Despite being the right shot that the team could use, Bouchard doesn’t have some skills or qualities that Team Canada is surely going to use. Friedman noted Doughty’s past history with the team, Weegar’s ability to play both sides of the ice, and Montour’s championship pedigree.
The fact Bouchard’s name wasn’t included in the speculation from insiders is enough to say that it’s unlikely we will see another Oiler suiting up for Team Canada.
For now of course.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
