Connor Bedard’s exclusion from Canada’s Olympics roster makes little sense to Jeff Blashill

The NHL’s fifth-leading scorer in terms of points per game this season won’t be playing in the Olympics, as things stand now.

Team Canada’s decision to leave Blackhawks star Connor Bedard off their initial roster Wednesday didn’t come as a surprise, but only because they had seemed reluctant to consider him all along. Looking at the situation objectively, it should have been surprising.

Hawks coach Jeff Blashill, who hadn’t said much of note when asked about Bedard’s Olympic candidacy several times previously, did have plenty to say about the injustice Thursday.

“I have a ton of respect for how hard these decisions are,” Blashill said. “Honestly, [for] Canada, the U.S. and 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.”

Blashill and Bedard had a lengthy chat about the news Wednesday, so some of Blashill’s articulation was him publicly demonstrating the fact he has his player’s back. But he’s never been one to withhold his honest opinions, either.

Bedard’s defensive abilities, which undoubtedly were a weakness during his first two seasons and which some analytics models consider still iffy, likely contributed to his exclusion. Blashill argued that the hockey analytics community hasn’t yet figured out a perfect way to measure defense, though.

“The metric that I trust is your impact on winning,” he added “The reason why I know he’s a big-time winning hockey player [is], when he was in our lineup, we were one point out of the wild card. Since then, we’re 1-6-1. … 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.”

Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong told reporters Wednesday that Bedard’s injury didn’t influence the decision.

Bedard is expected to return this month if his shoulder continues to heal properly. He was on the ice Thursday morning at the United Center — albeit not in uniform — for a Make-A-Wish event. He actually could get added to Canada’s roster later as an injury replacement for someone else.

Young Sharks star Macklin Celebrini was selected by Team Canada, and deservedly so, considering he ranks third in the league in points per game (with 62 in 40 games). Perhaps Canada was only willing to take one up-and-coming yet relatively unproven star.

Still, it’s hard to disregard the inkling that politics came into play. Bedard, who has been stuck on 44 points in 31 games since his injury, turned down Team Canada’s invitation to play in the world championships last May, deciding to instead give himself a full offseason to focus on his training and mindset at home in Vancouver.

That decision paid off handsomely for him, leading to tremendous maturation on and off the ice, but it might have rubbed some Canadian higher-ups the wrong way.

Plus, it’s worth noting two of the three most notable snubs from Canada’s roster — Bedard, Stars center Wyatt Johnson and Panthers power forward Sam Bennett — play for division rivals of the Blues, whom Armstrong manages.

An extra three weeks of rest in February for Bedard might ultimately benefit the Hawks, who will likely have only one Olympian in Team Finland forward Teuvo Teravainen.

However, as Blashill pointed out Tuesday, NHL participation in the Olympics allows “guys to play out their dreams” and also “sells the sport” of hockey. It’s unfortunate Bedard won’t get to experience the former or help with the latter.