The Dec. 31 deadline to submit the final roster for the upcoming Olympics is fast approaching and TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button and TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson are back with a new consensus roster for Team Canada.
A reminder, this is who Craig Button and Mike Johnson would pick if it were their choice – not a prediction of what Team Canada will do.
While the six players announced in June – forwards Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Brayden Point and Sam Reinhart, as well as defenceman Cale Makar – remain locked in, Button and Johnson have made three major changes to Canada’s projected roster.
After missing the cut in November, Chicago Blackhawks star forward Connor Bedard has cracked the roster, while defencemen Matthew Schaefer (New York Islanders) and Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings) are now on Canada’s bottom pairing.
TSN Olympic Roster Projection December 2025
Bedard replaces Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman up front while Schaefer and Doughty are in ahead of Thomas Harley (Dallas Stars) and Brandon Montour (Seattle Kraken), who were Canada’s fourth pairing on November’s list.
Bedard is tied for fifth in the NHL in goals this season with 18 and is sixth in NHL scoring with 40 points.
Button and Johnston have Bedard skating on the top line alongside Crosby and NHL scoring leader MacKinnon, and have also shuffled the lines from November’s roster.
San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini is now elevated to the second line alongside McDavid and Reinhart.
Celebrini, the No. 1 pick in 2024, is third in NHL scoring this season with 15 goals and 43 points in 31 games.
On the third line, Brandon Hagel has been promoted to play alongside Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki and Vegas Golden Knights winger Mitch Marner.
Hagel, who was originally one of two extra forwards for Canada on last month’s list, is elevated after a strong start to the 2025-26 campaign. He has 17 goals and 29 points in 29 games. Hagel had one assist in four games at the 4 Nations in February.
The fourth line has Islanders centre Bo Horvat in the middle flanked by Florida’s Brad Marchand and Washington’s Tom Wilson, while Point and Winnipeg Jets centre Mark Scheifele are the two extra forwards.
Point has struggled this season in Tampa, with four goals and 13 points in 23 games and has a plus/minus rating of -10. It’s a far cry from last season, when he finished with 42 goals and 82 points in 77 games.
On defence, Button and Johnson have kept the top three pairings the same, led by the Colorado Avalanche top pairing of Makar and Devon Toews, followed by Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey with Vegas’ Shea Theodore, and Philadelphia’s Travis Sanheim skating with St. Louis’ Colton Parayko.
The new bottom pairing features the youngest defenceman on the team in Schaefer and its oldest in Doughty.
At 18 years old, Schaefer has made himself a staple in the Islanders lineup. He is averaging 23:36 of ice time and is third in NHL rookie scoring with eight goals and 22 points in 31 games.
Other than Crosby, Doughty has the best international resume on Team Canada.
Dating back to his junior days, Doughty collected Ivan Hlinka and World Junior titles and has two Olympic gold medals (2010, 2014) on his resume to go along with World Cup of Hockey and 4 Nations championships.
Doughty, 36, has two goals and 10 points in 22 games while averaging 22:19 of ice time with the Los Angeles Kings.
Button and Johnson kept the goaltending trio of Jordan Binnington, Darcy Kuemper and Logan Thompson from November’s projection.
Of the 25 players on the projected roster, 16 helped Canada win gold at the 4 Nations tournament in February.
