MONTREAL — Ahead of their highly anticipated matchup with the United States as part of the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday, Team Canada was granted permission to bring Stars defenseman Thomas Harley in amid uncertainty surrounding their blue line.
After Shea Theodore suffered an upper-body injury in Canada’s opening win over Sweden and was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament, Cale Makar missed practice Friday due to illness.
Canada head coach Jon Cooper said he was confident Makar would be ready to play Saturday night.
Since tournament rules indicate Theodore couldn’t be replaced now that everything officially has begun, Team Canada had immediate conversations with the NHL and NHL Players Association about reinforcements when the Golden Knights defenseman went down.
Travis Sanheim is expected to replace Theodore on the left of Drew Doughty.
While Travis Konecny filled in for Makar on defense next to Devon Toews during Friday’s practice, the only situation where Harley would play is if Makar is unavailable.
Canada also switched up its bottom two forward lines, creating a unit of Lightning players with Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Brayden Point.
The fourth unit featured Brad Marchand, Seth Jarvis and Sam Bennett, who is expected to draw in for Konecny.
Cooper also declined to reveal his starting goalie, noting that he’d like to speak with his players before announcing. Jordan Binnington got the nod in the opener, but Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault are also options.
Finland head coach Antti Pennan alluded to some possible lineup changes after falling to Team USA 6-1 on Thursday.
Former Ranger Kaapo Kakko was the forward scratch for Finland, which means he would be an option if Pennan wished to switch things up.
“Could be, but tomorrow you will know about those,” Pennan said. “Again, 6-1, I think you need to do something, but I know more exactly [Saturday], and those changes are public [Saturday].”
Team USA head coach and Pittsburgh bench boss Mike Sullivan will face his star player, Sidney Crosby, for the first time in the 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday.
“Well, I think what stood out to me is probably the same thing that stood out to you and everybody else that watched, right?” Sullivan said. “He’s a big-game player. I’ve witnessed it firsthand for a decade now. Sid tends to be at his best when the stakes are high. That’s what I witnessed the other night. I would anticipate he’ll be at his best against us.”
