Alex Pietrangelo: 24 minutes on the ice after saying no to Team Canada

Dose
Crédit: Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images

Yesterday, we learned that Alex Pietrangelo would have to skip his turn for the Four Nations showdown scheduled for next month.

According to what the Golden Knights announced publicly, it is to “treat an illness” that the Canadian defenseman will not be present at the Four Nations confrontation.

These things happen. But…

But when you look at his last month (I could have said his year in general, too), it is clear that the Knights’ general is capable of playing. He hasn’t missed a single game and plays over 23 minutes per game in 2025.

Just yesterday, we’re talking about 24:22 of ice time.

But clearly, there must be something going on. The Golden Knights surely couldn’t pull him from there if he were at 100% of his health—oh no, never mind: we’re talking about the club that asks Mark Stone not to finish regular seasons to come back and play in the playoffs.

Will the Knights’ decision have an impact on other players who might decide to do the same? No idea. We will see in due time.

But more seriously, it is clear that Pietrangelo, who has clearly something going on, is opening the door for other players to do the same. Many clubs would prefer to see their players rest, two months before the playoffs, than to send them to Montreal and Boston.

So I expect that Pietrangelo will not be an isolated case.

If there are other players saying no to their team, perhaps that could open doors for Nick Suzuki and/or Cole Caufield, who are playing like guys who could stand out at the tournament.

But Pietrangelo is not a forward—and he is not American, in Caufield’s case. It will take another situation to open doors for both forwards from the Canadiens.

In our case, the name Mike Matheson could be circulating. After all, he is a Canadian defenseman and he can be a very good defenseman on the ice.

And that’s even if it has been more difficult these days… and many people are keen to remind that.

But because Matheson is a lefty and has his ups and downs, he is probably not the first candidate on Team Canada’s list. At least, this morning, Elliotte Friedman (32 Thoughts) did not mention him in his podcast when it came time to raise names.

Drew Doughty, MacKenzie Weegar, Brandon Montour, and Chris Tanev are names that Friedman raised.

Lastly, it is worth noting that Friedman claimed to have talked to people who confirmed to him that the Four Nations is like an All-Star Game: if you’re healthy, you must go.

Will Pietrangelo be penalized if he doesn’t go and continues to play? Can he prove that he is “just injured enough” to play with Vegas, but not take on more with Canada? We’ll see.

In brief

– To be continued.

– Things are going well for Pascal Vincent’s club.

– Indeed.

– Well done.