On Wednesday morning, Hockey Canada announced the remaining 25 players to fill out the roster that will head to the Olympics in February. During the summer, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar were among the first six to be announced to the squad. Unfortunately, the Colorado Avalanche have a ton of Canadian players, but they cannot all go. Who got snubbed, and who will join their teammates in Italy?

Snubbed

There has been a lot of talk in the media about who will be the goaltenders for Team Canada. Scott Wedgewood has admitted that he started drug testing for the Olympics. This told us he was officially being considered for the team. How could he not be? Wedgewood has 17 wins, which ties him for the league lead, and he is second in the NHL with a 2.13 goals-allowed average (GAA). Adding to this, Mackenzie Blackwood has 12 wins and a 2.15 GAA. The pair has the Avalanche playing their best hockey in franchise history and breaking several records along the way.

Instead, Team Canada went with Jordan Bennington as their third option in net. Currently, Bennington has only seven wins in 23 games played with the St. Louis Blues. He has a 3.44 GAA and, to add it that, he has a .844 save percentage. His numbers are not that great this year, but neither are the Blues’. Bennington helped lead Team Canada to a championship at the 4 Nations Faceoff earlier this year. So that may have had an enormous impact on the decision to keep him on the roster.

The addition

Besides Makar and MacKinnon, Devon Toews will join his teammates in Italy for the Olympics. So far this season, Toews has 12 points (1g/11a) in 38 games played. He sits seventh in the NHL with a +24 rating. Toews has always been recognized as a defensive defenseman. He has been a perfect complement to Makar on the other side, who plays with more of an offensive upside to his game. He is great on the penalty kill and is known for his great poke checks while under pressure.

Gabriel Landeskog has secured a spot on Team Sweden with the announcement of the first six players for the squad. Artturi Lehkonen stands a very good chance of making Team Finland with his 14 goals and 17 assists so far this season. In total, the Avalanche could end up with five players at the Olympics. The last time the NHL sent players, the Avalanche sent four players with Landeskog, Matt Duchene, Semyon Varlamov and Paul Stastny.