Washington Capitals goalie Logan Thompson's 4 Nations Face-Off snub puts Team Canada's goaltending decisions under the spotlight ahead of Milano 2026.
It's seven months away, but some interesting tidbits have already been released about men's hockey at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano, Italy.
For the first time since 2014, best-on-best Olympic ice hockey will return, and the first six players from each of the 12 nations participating in the tournament have been unveiled.
What's interesting about each country's first six players is the selection of them, as there doesn't seem to be an outline for a certain number of positions. Countries like Finland released a traditional starting six lineup with three forwards, two defensemen, and a goalie, while Canada released five forwards and one defenseman.
Team Canada wasn't the only country to omit a goalie. Six other teams, including Team USA and Sweden, didn't pick one either, making Finland the only country from the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament to release a goalie as part of their first six players. They named Nashville Predators Jusse Saros to netmind the crease for them in Italy next winter.
Saros is a good goalie who played in front of probably the most underwhelming team in the NHL this past season, but for him to be the only goalie named from one of the major hockey countries is a bit odd.
The case can be made that Canada, USA, and Sweden are so talented in other areas that they just released their most gifted players, no matter how much they overloaded one area of the ice. Still, pretty much every other goalie from those countries had better numbers than Saros did this season, including Montreal Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault, Team Canada's third-string goalie at the 4 Nations Face-Off, who was part of a highly scrutinized goalie staff at the tournament.
Back in early February, when the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters were announced, a glaring hole in Canada's highly profiled roster was their goaltending. With St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, Vegas Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill and Montembeault, many considered it the tournament's worst goalie group. It could have been fixed with one glaring omission: Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson.
"They never reached out to me…I wasn't surprised when I was left off the team. When they came out and said we let the extra guys know that if there's an injury that there would be extra guys coming in, and they never reached out to me still." said Thompson on The Fan Hockey Show on Sportsnet after being left out of Team Canada's roster.
Thompson didn't even get an offer to represent his country at the world stage despite having the second-best save percentage (.921) from the first half of the season to the 4 Nations break, per NHL.com. He was behind only Connor Hellebuyck, who played for Team USA at the 4 Nations tournament and just won the Hart Trophy and back-to-back Vezinas.
Thompson had an outstanding .774 winning percentage in the first half of the season, much better than any other Canadian goalie, let alone most goalies at that point. It was a huge reason why Washington exceeded expectations this season by being the number-one seed in the Eastern Conference.
Thompson would also finish this year with the league's third-best goals saved above expected across all situations, only behind Andrei Vasilevskiy and Hellebuyck, according to MoneyPuck.com.
If Thompson was statistically as good as his competitors who have won Vezinas, why didn't Team Canada at least reach out to him?
"I don't think (Bruce) Cassidy and (Peter) DeBoer were going to have it, I think it was [personalities at the top]. They didn't have a great experience with him in Vegas." said ex-NHL goalie and analyst Steve Valiquette on the Real Kyper & Bourne show.
Both Cassidy and DeBoer were assistant coaches for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and both had prior head coaching experience with Thompson when he was Vegas' goalie, experiences they obviously didn't want repeating at the world stage.
Due to his performance at the 4 Nations tournament, Team Canada will most likely invite Binnington to netmind Canada's crease for the Olympics, but it's just too difficult to ignore what Thompson did this past season as one of the league's best goalies and the best Canadian goalie.
From now until next February, when national teams really start to take form, more clarity on who will patrol Canada's crease will be known, and after this incident between Thompson and Team Canada, it may be one of the more interesting storylines leading up to the tournament.
What happens if Binnington starts the first half of next season in a slump? Does Canada still believe he can show up like he did at 4 Nations with more countries to face this time?
And what if Thompson continues his strong play into next season as the best Canadian-born goalie? Will egos still play a role in him not getting consideration? If Canada puts their differences aside or just replace Cassidy and Deboer behind the bench, they can solve an issue that's never been one for Canada.
Canada is nine and 14 years removed from being backstopped by Carey Price in Sochi and Roberto Luongo in Vancouver, two netminders Canada felt had an edge over any other country's starting goaltender. And out of any Canadian-born goalie, you can bet Thompson has the ability to bring that feeling back the most.
