On Dec. 4, the national teams involved in February’s 4 Nations Face-Off officially revealed their rosters. Among the players chosen were some familiar faces for Toronto Maple Leafs fans, with William Nylander for Sweden, Auston Matthews for the USA and Jani Hakanpaa for Finland. And luckily for Leafs fans, winger Mitch Marner was also selected for Team Canada.
However, unluckily for Leafs fans, Marner was the only Leafs player selected for the Team Canada roster, leaving out Canadian-born talent like John Tavares, Morgan Rielly and Chris Tanev.
Before we get ahead of ourselves and curse the selection committee for leaving our beloved Buds off the Canadian roster, let’s look at how the three snubs have done thus far in the 2024–25 NHL season, and why they are or aren’t deserving of a Team Canada spot.
John Tavares: Old but gold?
Starting with Tavares, the now-former Leafs captain has had a solid start to the season, putting up nearly a point-per-game with an even 11 goals and assists for 22 points in 24 games. That puts the 34-year-old centre, who has been playing primarily on the team’s second line when Matthews has been healthy, on pace for 75 points this season—higher than his 65 points from last season, but lower than the 80 he put up in 2022–23. Tavares has also been a +7 when on the ice and has been having a solid season overall.
So with numbers like that, why didn’t he crack the Canadian roster? Honestly, I’m not too sure. The team has a lot of talent at the centre position with Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, but an argument could be made for Tavares to make the team over guys like Seth Jarvis, Sam Bennett or Travis Konecny. Mind you, Jarvis does bring elite defence at forward, Bennett is from the defending champion Florida Panthers and Konecny has put up solid totals with 30 points in 25 games.
For Tavares, age is an issue. Surely Team Canada is looking ahead to the Olympics, and Tavares is simply not going to make that team. Guys like Jarvis may not be better right now, but getting experience in best-on-best hockey is a factor here.
With that, we can see why Tavares may have been snubbed, but also some reasons he possibly should’ve been given a spot on the roster.
Morgan Rielly: Too little too late
Hopping over to the defensive end, Rielly struggled out of the gate this season for the Leafs, putting up just two points in the team’s first seven contests. Since then, the 30-year-old defenseman has picked up the pace, following that abysmal seven games with a four-game point streak and now 15 points total through 25 games, the most among the Leafs’ defencemen and in the top 25 league-wide.
The 4 Nations roster itself has some solid defensive talent including Colorado’s Cale Makar, Winnipeg’s Josh Morrisey and Vegas’ Shea Theodore among others. But, you could easily throw Morgan Rielly on that roster over players like Devon Toews or Colton Parayko, both of whom are lower than Rielly in the plus-minus column and have put up fewer points. Like with Tavares, there is some truth behind these snub claims.
The biggest hurdle for Rielly is simply his style of play. Canada has always taken defensive-minded, reliable blueliners. They don’t want anyone prone to defensive lapses or big mistakes. Unfortunately for Rielly, he doesn’t fit this mould. An offensive explosion to begin the year would have given Rielly more hope at cracking the roster, but he
Chris Tanev: The biggest snub
Rounding out the list is one of the defencemen that the Leafs signed this season in Tanev. Tanev led the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs with 73 blocked shots in 19 games. He has continued that trend as he currently sits tied for the league lead with Calgary’s Rasmus Andersson to start 2024–25 with 77 blocks in 25 games. And while his point total is rather low at just six points, he has been a big positive for the Leafs with a +7 in the plus-minus category, tied with Tavares for fourth best on the team.
While Rielly’s fit doesn’t mesh with the rest of Team Canada, Tanev seems like he would be perfect as a third pair, penalty killing specialist. Just as good defensively as Parayko, and a more skilled player in the offensive zone, Tanev’s omission is the most puzzling. He seems like a better option than Travis Sanheim, too.
While his individual numbers aren’t as high as others who made Canada’s roster, Tanev can still be seen as a snub based on his excellence on the defensive side, especially when it comes to his elite shot-blocking. The same guys that Rielly could have replaced apply to Tanev as well, and given some of the picks seemed to be more based on style of play fit rather than stat totals, Tanev easily could have made the squad over others.
