3 Golden Knights named to Team Canada for Winter Olympics

Golden Knights captain Mark Stone, winger Mitch Marner and defenseman Shea Theodore will represent Team Canada in the Winter Olympics in Milan.

The three Knights stars were named to the 25-man roster Wednesday and will make their Olympic debuts when the league breaks for the international competition Feb. 6.

It will be the first time the NHL will have players in the Olympics since 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

“Happy for those guys,” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said after a 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators at T-Mobile Arena. “I’m sure they’ll be excited. When you ask them that you’re representing your country, I think that’s a great honor.”

Stone, Marner and Theodore represented Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, the league’s return to best-on-best international competition since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Stone and Marner played the entire tournament. Theodore suffered a broken wrist in Canada’s first game against Sweden.

The players will be joining Cassidy, an assistant on Jon Cooper’s staff.

Knights goaltender Adin Hill, who hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury Oct. 20, was left off the roster. He was the backup to Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues on the 4 Nations roster.

Former Knights goalie Logan Thompson, now with the Washington Capitals, was one of the three netminders selected, along with Binnington and Darcy Kuemper of the Los Angeles Kings.

Stone made the roster despite missing 16 games with a wrist injury, but his production was too good to leave off.

The 33-year-old from Winnipeg, Manitoba, has 30 points in 21 games and has scored in all but three games this season.

Marner, 28, is second on the Knights with 40 points in 37 games in his first season with Las Vegas. The native of Markham, Ontario, had the primary assist on Connor McDavid’s overtime winner in the 4 Nations final against Team USA.

Theodore, 30, is sidelined with an upper-body injury, but Cassidy said it’s not serious enough to keep him out. He has 20 points in 31 games while averaging a career-high 24:01 of ice time.

Cassidy said he thought Marner and Stone were locks to make the team. He was surprised there were so many questions from pundits across Canada that questioned if Stone should get in.

Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, Sam Bennett of the Florida Panthers, Seth Jarvis of the Carolina Hurricanes and Travis Konecny of the Philadelphia Flyers were notable forwards who missed the cut.

Cassidy said he was concerned Theodore’s injury would be a problem come selection time, but that wasn’t the case.

“I think everyone had (Theodore) as a guy that was on the roster when we started talking about individuals,” Cassidy said. “He gave up his holiday break (during 4 Nations) last year, stuck around the whole time because he wants to be a part of it. He deserves to be there.”

Stone, Marner and Theodore were not made available for comment after Wednesday’s game.

The U.S. will unveil its roster Friday on the “Today” show. Knights center Jack Eichel is already confirmed to be on the roster. Defenseman Noah Hanifin is in consideration after he participated on the 4 Nations roster.

Other Olympic teams will be unveiled in the coming days. TSN reported Tuesday that Knights center William Karlsson will not be added to Sweden’s roster, He hasn’t played since Nov. 8 because of a lower-body injury.

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.