Matthew Schaefer’s chances of making Team Canada may come down to a simple matter of faith.
Team Canada coach Jon Cooper, in town to coach the Lightning against the Islanders on Tuesday, said that as it relates to Canada’s trio of young stars gunning to make the Olympic squad — Schaefer, Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini — the biggest question is one they simply cannot answer: How they will handle the jump in speed and intensity that was on display at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off and will be in play at the Milan Games.
“There’s so many things that go into it. You can use the 4 Nations as a gauge,” Cooper said. “What you do at the NHL level doesn’t necessarily translate to what happens at that level. I never thought I’d be watching hockey that happens faster than an NHL game. And that was exponentially faster. You gotta know, can players take that next step?”
Of course, there is no answer for that. Schaefer, Celebrini and Bedard have never played in the playoffs — no fault of their own — and that is the closest comparison to the level that will be on display in Milan.
With eight defensemen likely to be named to the 26-man Olympic roster, Schaefer should have a reasonable shot at making it, but he needs to convince Team Canada’s management group — which has frequently attended Islanders games, with both Bruins GM Don Sweeney and Lightning GM Julien BriseBois at UBS Tuesday — that he can handle that jump.
Cooper is not evaluating for Team Canada during games he’s actively coaching, but admitted that he would be paying a little extra attention to Schaefer, who he had not yet seen live at the NHL level.
“I saw Schaefer play in Edmonton at an under-17 deal when he was playing against his own age group. He was really, really good,” Cooper said. “Now you want to see how he’s gonna play against men.”
It’s worth noting that the decision is not primarily Cooper’s to make, but a group of managers that includes Doug Armstrong and Kyle Dubas in addition to BriseBois and Sweeney.
“It’s a pretty damn good tribute to them that in December we’re talking about them. That’s pretty impressive,” said Cooper.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau rejoined the Islanders for Tuesday morning’s skate for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury 10 days ago, wearing an orange non-contact jersey.
“Progressing,” Pageau said before the Islanders defeated Tampa, 2-1. “Feel better every day. Hopefully I’ll be back sooner than later.”
General manager Mathieu Darche had previously said Pageau’s timeline would likely be 2-3 weeks and that he was expected back in the lineup by Christmas; the two-week mark on his injury will be Saturday’s game at Tampa’s game at Tampa.
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