NHL analyst opines Team Canada's center depth caused Nazem Kadri Olympics orientation camp snub 

NHL analyst Frank Corrado believes Nazem Kadri's exclusion from Team Canada's Olympic orientation camp roster is largely due to the country's exceptional depth at the center position.

With 42 NHL players invited to the camp in Calgary from August 26–28, the list includes top-tier stars like Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon as preparations begin for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Kadri, however, didn’t make the cut. The Calgary Flames forward responded to BarDown’s Instagram post about the roster with a simple but pointed reply: three question marks.

Corrado addressed the omission on TSN’s FanDuel Overdrive, explaining that while Kadri had a strong season and likely deserved consideration, Canada’s center position is already stacked.

"The only argument you can make against Kadri for not being at that camp is you have to make a cut somewhere," Corrado said. (1:38 onwards) "He plays a center ice position. There's already so many quality centers. If he was a winger, then he has more of a compelling argument to be there. But it's already so deep down the middle of the ice. It's a tough position to get a look at."

Kadri hasn’t represented Canada since the 2010 World Juniors, where the team took home silver. Despite six playoff-free NHL seasons, he’s never played at the World Championships either.

Still, Nazem Kadri put up career-best numbers with 35 goals and 67 points in 82 games, making his omission all the more noticeable.

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Aaron Korolnek's take on Nazem Kadri’s Team Canada snub

NHL analyst Aaron Korolnek weighed in on Nazem Kadri being left off Team Canada’s roster, pointing out that the decision could create valuable opportunities for up-and-coming stars like Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini.

“He's a great player and he's a guy who could contribute in the right role, but I just think that there are probably guys ahead of him. And I also think they're trying to bring some of the younger players as well along with Canada.” Korolnek said (0:55 onwards)“I think perhaps both Celebrini and Bedard in the right situation could be part of the roster maybe as like the taxi squad or whatever you want to call them."

Korolnek suggests that the team's decision-makers may have prioritized the inclusion of younger players.

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Edited by Dipayan Moitra