Over the weekend, a bit of news dropped, as the Vegas Golden Knights announced that Alex Pietrangelo won’t be part of Team Canada’s entry at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.
Pietrangelo’s withdrawal from the event opens the door for someone else to take his place, creating a tremendous opportunity for someone to represent their country – and make a case for their inclusion on Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
Canada’s roster still includes six defencemen: left shots Josh Morrissey (Winnipeg), Travis Sanheim (Philadelphia), Shea Theodore (Vegas) and Devon Toews (Colorado), and right shots Cale Makar (Colorado) and Colton Parayko (St. Louis). Pietrangelo is a right shot defender, so Canada may be looking for another one… or at least somebody that can bring some flexibility to their blueline.
Over at Daily Faceoff, our pal Matt Larkin broke down the five leading contenders to replace Pietrangelo. His top choice? Calgary Flames alternate captain MacKenzie Weegar.
Here’s Larkin’s rationale:
Canada doesn’t have to overthink this. Big and strong? Check. Plays both special teams? Check. Righthanded but can also play the left side if needed? Check. Plays against opponents’ top players nightly? Historically a high-end play driver at 5-on-5? Check. Weegar is among the most well-rounded defensemen in the sport. He’s the ideal replacement for any injury on the blueline because he can play any role, anywhere. Weegar feels like the lowest-maintenance addition possible. Sure, his 20-goal season from a year ago was an obvious outlier, but Canada wouldn’t need him to reproduce that deadliness. If Weegar is just himself, a.k.a. pretty good at everything, he’s an ideal second-pair option.
The other five on Larkin’s list, in descending order: New Jersey’s Dougie Hamilton, Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard, Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty and Toronto’s Chris Tanev.
Weegar was acquired by the Flames during the 2022 off-season as part of the Matthew Tkachuk trade with Florida. While Jonathan Huberdeau’s inclusion coming off a 115-point season initially made analysts see him as the centrepiece of the Flames’ haul in that swap, Weegar has lived up to the potential many in the hockey world thought he had. Now in his third season with the Flames, Weegar has six goals and 19 assists for 25 points, top among their defensive group.
Speaking on Tuesday morning prior to the Flames’ match-up with Washington, Weegar was asked about the possibility of replacing Pietrangelo at the event (via Flames TV):
“I got a great vacation booked down in Mexico that I’m willing to cancel at any time.”
The 4 Nations Face-Off runs Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston. Roster replacements can be named up to the start of the tournament.
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