Deen’s Daily: Canada’s Curious Goalie Decisions; How Good Will Vegas Be This Year?

Hockey Canada invited 42 players to orientation camp but was extremely limited with their goalies. is Mackenzie Blackwood the biggest snub? Also, how good will the Golden Knights be this year?

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — August 2.

Colorado Hockey Now

Yesterday I touched on Hockey Canada’s 42 invites to their orientation camp ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics. The same three Avs that played at 4 Nations are all going to the tournament. You can see the full roster below.

READ MORE: MacKinnon, Makar, and Toews Among 42 Hockey Canada Orientation Camp Invites

Getting invited to the camp obviously doesn’t guarantee you a spot on the Olympic roster. You can’t take 42 players. And, traditionally, players that weren’t invited to camp have still been able to play their way onto the roster. Just ask Jamie Benn and Patrick Marleau, who both made the 2014 Team Canada gold medal team despite not being invited to orientation.

Back then, Canada invited six goalies. They likely knew Carey Price would lead the charge but it didn’t stop them from keeping the competition alive in those remaining two goaltending spots. This time, they’re taking a different, more puzzling approach.

Jordan Binnington earned the right to start after his 4 Nations Face-Off success. But, they’re not even trying to have a security blanket at this point. They didn’t invite Logan Thompson, Darcy Kuemper, Stuart Skinner, or Blackwood. It’s strange.

Read more below.

READ MORE: No Blackwood or Thompson? Canada Only Invites 3 Goalies to Orientation Camp

Around The NHL

Florida Hockey Now: As you’d expect, there are several Florida Panthers on Canada’s invite list. And it’s not just guys that played at 4 Nations (Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, and Brad Marchand).

Vegas Hockey Now: I’m genuinely intrigued at how the Western Conference is going to look this year. I don’t think the Minnesota Wild or L.A. Kings took the step they wanted to this year. I still think Winnipeg will be up there despite losing some talent. But four teams in particular are interesting.

The Golden Knights, Avalanche, Stars, and Oilers.

I’ll get into more on each of them as August unfolds, and training camp gets closer. But the Knights are such a fascinating team to watch this year. They’re older than most, and they just lost Alex Pietrangelo, likely for good. However, anytime you add a Mitch Marner, you’re injecting a ton of offense and two-way play into the top of your lineup. How good will Vegas be this year?

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin eras are winding down. Here are five of the more underappreciated teammates they’ve had over the past 20 years.

Boston Hockey Now: James Hagens wants to be a big part of the Bruins future. Does he want to play for them in 2025-26?