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MacKenzie Weegar, Calgary Flames (Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images)

Flames’ MacKenzie Weegar Could Make Olympic Roster for Team Canada

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Cody Gzowski | Last updated Aug 8, 2025 8:55 AM ET

Recently, Hockey Canada released a list of NHL players, women’s players, and sledge hockey players who were invited to their Olympic summer tryout showcase. On their NHL list was the Calgary Flames’ star defenceman, MacKenzie Weegar. While he did not participate in Canada’s most recent 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, he’s a strong candidate to fill in a spot on their defence and should absolutely be considered over other players.

Full List of Invited Defencemen:

Evan Bouchard
Noah Dobson
Drew Doughty
Aaron Ekblad
Thomas Harley
Cale Makar
Brandon Montour
Josh Morrissey
Colton Parayko
Travis Sanheim
Shea Theodore
Devon Toews
MacKenzie Weegar

A small number of these 13 invited defencemen are almost certainly locks for the role. Cale Makar has already been officially named to the roster, and his partner Devon Toews shouldn’t be far behind. Parayko, Morrissey, Harley, Doughty, and Sanheim all contributed to Canada’s win at the 4 Nations Face-Off, so it’s reasonable to suspect they’re on the shortlist. Ekblad recently won back-to-back Stanley Cups, so he might be on the shortlist as well. All that to say: if Weegar wants to make the team, he will have an uphill battle ahead of him, but it certainly isn’t impossible.

MacKenzie Weegar Is the Flames’ Best Skater

Over the past couple of seasons, Weegar has put himself head and shoulders above the rest of the Flames’ skater group in quality. Last season, he was third on the team in points after Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri – however, he also led the Flames in assists with 39, five more than second place. At even strength, the team was up 73-59 in goals in Weegar’s minutes, second on the team behind only Joel Hanley, who played the vast majority of his minutes with Weegar himself and only played 53 games compared to Weegar’s 81.

It’s hard to measure a defenceman’s quality by points, because that’s not their job – the purpose of a defenceman is to defend. Even so, if only two of the Flames’ numerous forwards (they iced 24 different forwards in the 2024-25 season) could outscore their number-one defenceman, then that bodes well for the defenceman, especially if the forwards in question are 34 and 32 years old respectively. It’s even better if that defenceman manages such a significant positive goal differential on a team that finished overall negative 13. Weegar also played much of the season on his weaker left side, compensating for the Flames’ general lack of left-handed defencemen.

While Weegar’s international record isn’t quite as lengthy and glowing as some of the other candidates on the list, his one representation of Canada internationally is just about the best you can ask for: in 2023, he served as an alternate for Canada at the IIHF World Championships in Finland and Latvia, where he finished tied for fourth in the tournament (and first on Team Canada) for points with 11. He led all defencemen at the tournament in points, and was named the best defenceman at the event.

He does have the pedigree to argue that he should be at least heavily considered – a leading role on a gold medal-winning team, and the sort of play style that doesn’t lend itself to big mistakes in small sample sizes. Evan Bouchard may outscore his opponents more on paper, but when it’s a tournament with Olympic pressures, those occasional defensive blunders are a lot less forgivable than they would be in a longer season.

Weegar’s Limited Experience Might Not Be Enough

Hockey Canada tends to prefer players who have much more experience on the international stage than Weegar boasts. Drew Doughty, for example, is a World Championship short of an entry in the Triple Gold club, and also boasts World Junior Championship gold and two Olympic gold medals. In this situation, pedigree might matter more to the national sport body than plain skill, even when it could be argued that it shouldn’t.

Weegar also lacks some of the skills that would set him apart from his lacklustre championship record, taking into consideration some of his opponents. Almost everyone else on this list has won at least one Stanley Cup. Doughty and Makar have both won Norris Trophies, and players like Morrissey or Bouchard are notable for their offensive hyper-prowess on league-best power plays. Colton Parayko has an exceptionally long reach that looks great to an old-school scout.

All in all, Weegar’s lack of international experience and lack of stand-out traits mean he’s not likely to make Team Canada, despite his (admittedly short) history of success on the grand stage and all-around strength. That being said, there’s still a long season ahead to decide who does make it, and anything can happen.