theyd play someone (Ekblad) on their offhand before they put girard there

I dont know about that. Girard is probably a top 5 D in the whole league this year

Pelech and Pulock have been better than Girard and both are from Canada

Theyve both been great but not better than Girard imo

Chabot?

Price is the starter till he loses likely

Hed definitely be in consideration but in the end I dont think he would take a spot over anyone here

I agree that Girard and Toews have been great, however I would probably take someone with a better track record such as Ekblad (healthy)

Also play Barzal over Schiefele

I’d personally go:

Huh - McDavid - Stone
Marchand - Crosby - Mackinnon
Stamkos - Barzal - Point
OReilly - Couturier - Scheifele

Marner

Theo - Makar
Girard - Hamilton
Chabot - Pietrangelo

Toews/Rielly (Ekblad would play if injury doesn’t linger)

Hart Blackwood
Price Binnington
Hill

Goalie is a real toss (most upside is Hill Hart)
Blackwood Binner seem likely candidates
Price is NOT gonna be our goalie especially with this seasons play. He’ll have to bounce back hard for myself to even think it’s worth it. He’s played well recently but needs to be longer than just a couple weeks.

Statistically Pelech and Pulock have been better than every defenseman in the league not named Adam Fox and probably Makar since he was hurt so it skews his numbers

maybe, but hes been outplayed by Kuemper and Blackwood in both of the past 2 seasons. Definitely the most experienced of the 3 though

Based on what statistics? Girard and Toews have better possession numbers, expected goal differential, point shares, etc

shooting adjusted WAR has Fox-Pelech-Pulock-Toews-McAvoy as the top 5 dmen in the league this year

Girards a norris candidate - Pelech and Pulock are great but not busting out like Girard rn

i mean they should be norris candidates but the league only values points lol

Why does that discredit Girard who’s done well in both ends?
And got points? If he’s better offensively and nearly “equal” defensively is he not a better norris candidate

because there are many better defenseman than him he just gets more credit than them because he shows up on the scoresheet

He’s better offensively and nearly nan equal defensively and he’s on the scoresheet. He’s getting credit because how goods he been not because he’s got points. You’re assuming everyone’s discredited the others but Girards quite literally being discredited by you rn.

im not discrediting him at all hes a great hockey player but if you're making a Canadian Olympic team there are better defensemen than him who arent on here

Thats great, but I dont think that is enough to put either of them over Girard tbh. Pelech-Pulock is a fantastic shutdown pair but Girard has been comparable defensively this year while being miles better offensively and in transition. Especially on team canada where every other D man is going to be fantastic defensively anyway, I dont think its as important to have a pure shutdown pair. Girard is a better fit for this team imo

(Also how do they adjust war for shooting? quality of shots? Isnt that already taken into account for regular wins above replacement? genuinely curious)

Canada will have like 10 great options but they'll still find a way to get an average dman like Doughty/Weber/Burns/Morrissey because of their reputation. It won't cost them the Gold but it sucks. Unlike D, not a lot of good options for G right now. I would have the same tandem. I'm confident Bergeron will make the team.

I was going to put Bergeron but it's hard to predict if he will still be this good at age 37. As long as he doesn't drop off too hard he could definitely be in the mix

There are plenty of players who would make this team over Girard.

Chabot, Rielly, Ellis, Ekblad, Pelech, Pulock, Spurgeon, Parayko are all better options than Girard.

They're both easily better than Girard. It's not even a debate

Lmao both Pelech and Pulock are better than Girard. The only reason Girard is in the running for the Norris is because he has a fancy eye test and awards are generally meaningless