According to a recent article in The New York Times, Team Canada might start the Olympic tournament behind in the game, with Jordan Binnington as their goalie.
Tough choice for GM about the goalie spot
Canada and the United States are the top choices to win the Gold Medal, and the two teams are very close in skill. Every choice about the lineup is crucial.
So, how does Doug Armstrong make the choice about who will be in goal? He tends to pick players he trusts and has experience with, rather than some who might be better.
I know the stats are obvious. I know he’s starting anyways. I know Canada is a medal contender regardless. I still had to write it.
With the gap between Thompson and Binnington as wide as it is, Canada should not risk starting Binnington.https://t.co/7XX9U8VLZW pic.twitter.com/CrW1xXlik2
— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) February 9, 2026
Even though Jordan Binnington was the winning goalie for Canada at the 4 Nations last year, he has been one of the weakest goalies in the league since then.
On the other hand, his backup, Logan Thompson, has performed really well this season, being one of the best goalies in the league. While Binnington’s performance is going down, the young goalie from the Capitals has impressive stats, boasting a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.45 and a goals-saved-above-expectation (GSAx) of 0.44, according to HockeyViz.
To put it simply, the gap in GSAx between Binnington and Thompson is 1.01 goals, which means if Binnington is in goal, Team Canada might start every game already losing by a goal.
While we are using statistics to support the idea of starting Logan Thompson, his performance numbers really show how good he’s been this year.
When comparing him to some of the top goalies in the league, Thompson ranks third in GSAx this year, only behind Ilya Sorokin and Connor Hellebuyck. He also ranks in the top ten in the NHL for GAA, with only . 34 goals separating him from the best goalie.
Of course, experience matters, especially since Binnington started four times at the 4 Nations last year.
However, he is not performing at the same level now as he did back then, and in a quick tournament like the Olympics, it may hurt Team Canada if they choose the wrong goalie.
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