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The best player on the Chicago Blackhawks roster is seen as the future of the sport in the NHL.
He's not the future of Team Canada hockey, just yet.
What we know:
Team Canada left Connor Bedard off of its roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. In his place, the Canadians opted for more experience.
Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand, Mitch Marner, Connor McDavid and Sam Reinhardt are a few names on Team Canada's roster. The list of NHL experience is evident. Bedard might not fit that desire just yet.
The expectation for Team Canada is to win a gold medal. This roster is built to do exactly that with a collection of some of the best players in the world.
But, Bedard has notably been a star for Team Canada when he's worn a Canadian sweater before. When Bedard competed for Team Canada at the national competitions, he recorded 60 points in 35 games.
Bedard isn't the only player left off Team Canada's roster. Dallas Stars forward Wyatt Johnson was left off the roster, too. Like Bedard, Johnson is a 20-year-old talent that will get a chance to play Olympic hockey in the next Winter Games in 2030.
However, what might have been a deciding factor in leaving Bedard off the Olympic roster was Bedard's current status.
The other side:
Team Canada has so many options for its Olympic hockey team. There was a chance Bedard would be left off the list in general.
However, an injury to Bedard on Dec. 12 against the St. Louis Blues might have played a factor in
The Blackhawks placed Bedard on injured reserve for an upper body on Dec. 15, which was a move retroactive to Dec. 12. The team didn't give a timeline for Bedard's return.
When the Blackhawks lost Bedard in mid-December, it put the team in a rut.
The Blackhawks are 1-6-1 in games Bedard has missed. So far in the 2025-2026 season, Bedard has a team-high 19 goals and 25 assists in 31 games and was one of the league leaders in points per game when he suffered his injury.
If Bedard was healthy, there's a chance he might be on the Olympic roster. Instead, Bedard's Olympic snub is being mentioned on the same level as Crosby's Olympic snub ahead of the 2006 games.