Canada can notify options, but can't add another defenceman for now
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Just one game into the 4 Nations Face-Off and Team Canada is already down to six defencemen after losing Vegas Golden Knights blueliner Shea Theodore to an upper-body injury on Wednesday night.
TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston reports Canada can inform a player he's next on their list to be called up, but cannot name an additional player to their roster unless there is another injury on defence. TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun believes Canada is hoping a possible replacement player could be with the team and practise, but according to NHL rules, that is not allowed at the moment.
Johnston did not list any possible options for Canada, though MacKenzie Weegar of the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs blueliner Chris Tanev received backing from teammates during the wait to replace injured Golden Knights defenceman Alex Pietrangelo last month.
Drew Doughty eventually replaced Pietrangelo, who said he would instead use the two-week break to "tend to an ailment and prepare for the remainder of the regular season with Vegas."
For now, Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Travis Sanheim is set to replace Theodore after joining forward Sam Bennett as the team's healthy scratches against Sweden.
Sanheim, 28, has six goals and 27 points in 57 games with the Flyers this season. He is signed through the 2030-31 at a cap hit of $6.25 million.
Theodore was labelled week-to-week by the Golden Knights on Thursday after Team Canada head coach Jon Cooper declined to reveal the full extent of Theodore's injury after a 4-3 overtime win over Sweden.
“That's a big blow,” Cooper said after ruling out Theodore for the remainder of the tournament. “What a kid, and he only got to play six minutes. It's heartbreaking for the kid. And he was the first one there at the door high-fiving everybody when we came off. It's a tough one to swallow because you just know how much it means. I guess in hindsight he got to touch the ice and get some time in there.
"But for us it was tough because you talk about the speed in that game and we had to fight through the last 50 minutes with five defencemen. That's a grind.”
Theodore, 29, has seven goals and 48 points in 55 games this season while sitting second on the Golden Knights ice time at 22:02 per game. Pietrangelo leads the Golden Knights with an average of 22:35 per game.
Theodore injured his right wrist or forearm when he got pushed into the glass on a hit by Sweden’s Adrian Kempe in the second period of Canada's eventual 4-3 overtime win. He left the ice in pain and was looked at on the bench before going down the tunnel to get X-rays.
“I didn’t know, actually, either until the intermission when they came in and told me,” Kempe said of Theodore's injury. “I can’t even remember the hit to be honest, so I’m going to have to go back and look.”
The 29-year-old Theodore carries a cap hit of $5.2 million this season with his seven-year contract set to kick in next season at a cap hit of $7.43 million.