Team Canada’s hockey roster for the Olympics is one of the toughest lists to crack in all of sports. The NHL has been depriving the world of seeing the best-on-best hockey at the Olympics since 2018, but the world’s best will all converge in Italy in February for a battle for world supremacy. If last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off was any indication, it should be a must-watch. Two players, Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini, are hoping they’ll be part of the action this time around after missing out last year.
Team Canada’s general manager, Doug Armstrong, doesn’t have an easy job. He caught up with insider Pierre LeBrun on Monday to talk about the tough decisions he is facing, and reiterated that both Bedard and Celebrini are in the mix.
“There’s no age limit, at the high end or the low end, but I’m going to say some of the guys at the low end (youngsters) have really … they’ve found us,” Armstrong said. “And now we’re going to really home in on those guys. There’s so many good young players in this game. Connor Bedard has been playing some great hockey right now. He’s taken his game up to a level it wasn’t at last year. Celebrini has continued what he showed last year.”
Both players are in the top five in points as the season approaches the end of the first quarter. With the way they are playing, it’s hard to see them falling off too far before the roster selection on New Year’s Eve. The young stars deserve a spot, but will Team Canada’s front office have an appetite to leave off some proven veterans to make room on the Olympics roster? If basing it on past Canadian roster decisions, the answer is no, but Bedard and Celebrini aren’t going down without a fight.
The trip overseas to Stockholm, Sweden for the NHL Global Series presented the opportunity for the Pittsburgh Penguins to bring a third-string goaltender with them.
And they happened to choose a Swede who travelled right to his backyard.
Penguins’ goaltending prospect Filip Larsson, 27, is currently the starting goaltender for Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins. Larsson signed a two-year deal with the Penguins ahead of the 2024-25 season and owns a 3-0-1 record with a 2.92 goals-against average and an .891 save percentage in five appearances this season.
Larsson grew up in Stockholm, and – as he told Sportsnet Pittsburgh’s Hailey Hunter on Tuesday – he has – quite literally – returned home to a very familiar place at Avicii Arena.
“The arena we practiced at today is where I played for three years,” Larsson said. “So, yeah, it’s nice to be back, and it’s a lot of fun to step out on the ice.”
From 2014-17, Larsson suited up for Djurgardens Jr. of the Swedish Junior Hockey League, which led to him getting drafted in the sixth round (167th overall) by the Detroit Red Wings in 2016.
“It was nice. It was one of the best junior teams in Sweden, maybe the best, probably,” Larsson said. “Great program. Went to school, like, five, 10 minutes away from here and played here. So, yeah, it’s great.”
Larsson joins Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov as the available Penguins’ netminders for the two-game swing against the Nashville Predators. The Pens and Preds face off Friday at 2:00 p.m. EDT and Sunday at 9:00 a.m. EDT.