Why did Connor Bedard miss the 4-nation cut? GM Don Sweeney explains – and hints at Olympic plans

After Connor Bedard was left off Team Canada’s roster for the four-nation clash in February, decision-makers are not ruling out the possibility of the Chicago Blackhawks forward being selected for the 2026 Olympics in Milan in a year’s time.

General manager Don Sweeney said Thursday that the team’s leadership group believes Bedard, the second-youngest player in the NHL this season at 19, simply isn’t ready to oust a more experienced player from a crowded roster. The team announced Wednesday features only one player born in the 2000s: 22-year-old Seth Jarvis.

Still, Sweeney said he expects Bedard’s time will come.

“The experiences he will have (are important),” Sweeney said Thursday. “The World Championships he competed in last year. Now going through the league for the second time, so to speak – there are some challenges associated with that in the second year. He’s working in a situation where he gets the most attention possible from the best players he plays against every night.

“I think he’s living it and living it right now and it’s only going to help him continue to build his resume and we’re excited about that.”

The 2023 No. 1 pick wasn’t happy with a second NHL season in which he scored five goals and 19 points in 26 games for the Blackhawks. Bedard hasn’t spoken to reporters since the Team Canada selection was announced, but told TNT on Wednesday night: “You kind of sleep in the bed you make.”

The Canadian record holder at the World Junior Championships isn’t in exclusive company when it comes to biding his time before making the jump to the senior men’s division.

Sidney Crosby was passed over for the Canadian Olympic team in 2006 as an 18-year-old while in the midst of a 102-point NHL season. And Steven Stamkos didn’t make the 2010 Olympics squad at age 19, despite being in the midst of a 51-goal, 95-point season.

Canada has a wide selection of players and decision-makers place a high value on experience. Fifteen members of the 4 Nations roster already own a Stanley Cup ring, while none of Bedard’s 94 career NHL games have come in the playoffs.

“If you don’t check all the boxes and look at the situations players have been in in the past, then you’re not doing a good job,” Canada head coach Jon Cooper said. “You can’t put a price tag on experience. I firmly believe that this is a tournament where you essentially play three Game 7s and there is no real margin for error. You have to win these games to put yourself in a position to get to the final.”

Bedard’s exclusion should not have been a surprise to him. He might even have felt strange if he had been kidnapped.

Selection to the All-Star Game last season felt right based on his play, but he would be the first to tell you he hasn’t performed anywhere near that elite level this year.

Bedard’s second NHL season tested him in ways he had never been tested before in his young life. Attacks were always easy for him. Even in the last NHL season, when he was 18 years old, he took advantage of his opportunities and invested enough to conquer the league.

The assumption was that he would hit the ground running this season. But that wasn’t the case, especially when it came to his scoring exploits. He recently went on a streak of 12 scoreless games. He couldn’t remember anything ever happening to him on any level and it robbed him of his confidence. When once asked what he could do better, he replied, “I mean, I could name 100 things, but I don’t know, man. It was definitely frustrating. I just don’t feel like I’m really doing anything. So I guess just keep working on it and hopefully find my game again.”

Bedard has finally broken that streak, but the offense still isn’t performing the way he hoped. Even the opportunities were harder for him to come by. He had zero shots on goal in a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday and two in a loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. He has had two or fewer shots on goal in 10 of his last 12 games. He had three or more goals in 10 of his first 14 games.

And of course, he doesn’t get much support playing for the Blackhawks.

The lines were constantly shuffled in search of offense, and Bedad didn’t have consistent linemates or click with anyone. The Blackhawks rank 31st in goals per game and 32nd in points per game.

As for the possibility of future national team duty for Bedard, Sweeney said Hockey Canada has begun building a database to track a wide range of players, with the knowledge that a regular cycle of best-on-best competition will be in place The 2026 Olympics and a 2028 World Cup are planned after the four-nation tournament in February.

It put up-and-coming players like Bedard and Macklin Celebrini on the radar of future Team Canadas.

“We will have to make difficult decisions in the future,” Sweeney said. “I truly believe the next generation of players we have in Canada will make these decisions as hard as they do today.”

(Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)