CHICAGO -- Connor Bedard was not named to Team Canada’s roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Wednesday, but Chicago Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill believes the center should have been.
“First off, I have a ton of respect for how hard these decisions are,” Blashill said on Thursday. “Honestly, Canada, the (United States), Sweden -- you have a lot of really good players that you’re going to ultimately leave off these teams. The one thing I would say is, I don’t think the rest of the League knows how good of a two-way winning hockey player Connor has become; that’s the one thing, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s based on previous years, but I don’t think they have a full understanding of how good a winning hockey player he is today as we sit here today.
“The reason why I know he’s a big-time winning hockey player, when he was in our lineup, we were one point out of the wild card (in the Western Conference), and since then we’re 1-6-1. That’s the impact he’s had. That’s the type of two-way player [he’s become]. You don’t have that impact if you’re just a point-getter; you only have that impact if you’re a true two-way kind of winning player, and that’s what he’s become.”
Bedard has been out since Dec. 12 when he sustained an upper-body injury with one second left in the third period of a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues while taking a face-off. Blues center Brayden Schenn went in for a stick lift and knocked into Bedard, who fell backward to the ice. He was clutching his right shoulder as he headed toward the locker room.
The 20-year-old still leads the Blackhawks (14-18-7) with 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) in 31 games. At the time of his injury, Bedard was fourth in NHL scoring behind Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon, Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and 19-year-old San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini. Those three will represent Canada in Milan.
Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong said Wednesday that Bedard’s injury really didn’t affect his chances of making the team.
“Quite honestly, his name was there to the last second,” Armstrong said. “But I think the reality is, there’s so many good players, and we just had difficult decisions to make.”
Bedard skated on Monday for the first time since he was injured, but he did not take any shots on goal. Blashill said Bedard will be reevaluated this month and, once that happens, he’ll have a better idea of when Bedard will return.
The No. 1 pick at the 2023 NHL Draft, Bedard has 172 points (64 goals, 108 assists) in 181 games.
Chicago hosts the Dallas Stars on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; Victory+, CHSN, SN1).
