Announcement: Connor Bedard may be making Team Canada's Olympic roster after all

The Olympic roster drama still breathes.

On Wednesday, Hockey Canada unveiled its 25-player men's roster for Milano Cortina, and Macklin Celebrini got the headline spot among the kids, not Bedard.

Bedard is one of three major snubs for Team Canada.

Bedard's case didn't vanish; it just got paused by circumstance. He has 44 points in 31 games for Chicago, but a right shoulder injury has him sidelined until January, possibly late in the month.

As a fan, it stings watching a teenager like Macklin Celebrini get the call while Bedard sits, even if the logic makes sense.

Celebrini's surge in the NHL has been impossible to ignore, with 60 points in 39 games and a real two-way edge that shows up every night. He's also proven he can slide around a lineup, which matters in short tournaments.

Here's the part that keeps the door cracked for Bedard anyway. Doug Armstrong has been clear that Canada plans to keep evaluating and lining up injury replacements right into January, because Olympic rosters never stay clean.

That's why this feels less like a final «no» and more like a temporary «not yet.» If Bedard is healthy when the calendar flips, his pace, hands, and power-play instincts are exactly the sort of punch you can drop into a stacked lineup fast if an injury takes place.

It still sucks, though, because being left off while you're scoring like that is a gut check for any 20-year-old.

The next milestone is simple: get healthy, keep rolling in Chicago, and be ready if Team Canada's phone rings before Milan in February.