The Montreal Canadiens and their fans were upset that players like Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield didn't make the rosters for their respective countries. It's unfortunate after watching Patrik Laine succeed with Team Finland and the exciting game between Canada and the United States on Saturday night. It would've made it even more exciting for Habs fans if Suzuki and Caufield were on opposite ends of the ice at the Bell Centre.
Suzuki had a case to be on the team, but he isn't really what Team Canada is missing. Suzuki isn't as offensively dynamic as some other snubs, and Canada has enough of the Suzuki-type players in the bottom six. Canada could use a couple more scoring threats, which brings us to the three players they are missing at this year's tournament. Let's look at a player from each position group that Team Canada could've taken to round out their team with the hindsight of seeing them play two games.
F - Mark Scheifele
Mark Scheifele had experience at the last best-on-best international tournament when he played with the U23 North America team, and was one of Canada's top scorers amongst forwards when the NHL broke for the tournament. Scheifele has 63 points in 56 games, eight points behind Mitch Marner and Connor McDavid, and well behind Nathan MacKinnon. However, he is still fourth amongst Canadian forwards.
Sam Reinhart hasn't been good in this tournament, while Brandon Hagel, Brayden Points, and Anthony Cirelli bring a different element, but the offense is non-existent when they are on the ice together. Scheifele could've been another option on the third line to add scoring depth on more lines and give the Canadians another option that can score a big goal when they need it most. The American game was mostly alot of outside play from nine of the forwards and hoping that one of the big three of McDavid, MacKinnon, or Sidney Crosby could score when they got back on the ice.
D - Evan Bouchard
Bouchard is a polarizing player due to his deficiencies on the backend. He is the perfect person to look back in hindsight and wonder if Canada should've taken him, as the need didn't really arise for him until Cale Makar's illness. Taking Bouchard would've rid the team of either Colton Parayko or Travis Sanheim. Parayko is one of Canada's only big-bodied defensive threats, but some of his footspeed shortcomings could get Canada into trouble in the rest of the tournament.
Bouchard would've been a perfect fit for Canada given his ability to generate offense from the backend and an automatic chemistry fit on the powerplay with Connor McDavid. The absences of Makar and Shea Theodore in the USA game was clear, as there wasn't much offense coming from the blueline.
After his play in the USA game, Thomas Harley probably could've been the player on this list, but since recent reports have him as full-time member of the team now, we opted for someone different.
G - Logan Thompson
It's low-hanging fruit at this point but everyone knows Logan Thompson should be on this team in some capacity. Jordan Binnington being the starter in the first two games has drew the ire of the nation, as some noted he isn't even the best Canadian goaltender on his NHL team. Logan Thompson with his .921 save percentage, 2.23 goals-against average, and 24-2-2 record deserved a spot on this team.
After seeing some of the goals Binnington allowed this tournament, there's an argument that he should be the goalie in the press box for Canada, not Sam Montembeault.