One of the most surprising omissions from Team Canada's Olympics roster was Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett. Bennett played a key role in last year's 4 Nations Face-Off victory, won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Florida Panthers, and was last season's Conn Smythe Trophy winner. It's hard to find a forward more worthy of a spot on Team Canada. Still, thanks to some surprising roster decisions, Bennett is left as an injury replacement for Team Canada, according to Elliotte Friedman via a post on X.
There were some roster decisions that raised eyebrows. Some of the decisions were to take Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel over Bennett for the roster. While Cirelli and Hagel were also on the 4 Nations Face-Off roster, Bennett's body of work over the past three seasons is much greater than that of those two players. However, with their NHL head coach Jon Cooper in charge of Canada's bench, he decided to take his players over a division rival.
Bennett is waiting to see if he will get the call after an injury to Bo Horvat shortly after the staff announced the team. There was also an injury scare to Tom Wilson, who will play a similar role to Bennett, but that one sounds more day-to-day than long-term.
Horvat's injury also seems to be non-serious, but Sam Bennett still has to stay ready, given the nature of the sport. There were plenty of injuries to players before last year's tournament, and it'd be shocking if no rosters were affected before the Olympics.
