10 thoughts on Olympic men's hockey ahead of elimination stage
The round-robin portion of the Olympic men's hockey tournament finished Sunday. Next up in Italy: playoff qualifiers Tuesday and quarterfinal games Wednesday. Canada, the United States, Slovakia, and Finland earned byes to the quarters; the other eight teams must win Tuesday to advance.
For a breakdown of the elimination-stage bracket, tap here.
Below are 10 thoughts on Week 1 and what Week 2 might bring.
Nothing fazing Celebrini
Macklin Celebrini's meteoric rise has continued until even his biggest supporters would be lying if they claimed they saw this coming. He's been spectacular in his Olympic debut.
Celebrini - who, it must be stressed, is 19 years old - is tied for the tournament lead with four goals. He scored twice, including on a penalty-shot deke, and added a primary assist in Canada's 10-2 dismantling of France on Sunday. The British Columbia native's six points are tied for second on the team and his 10 shots rank third. He's second to Connor McDavid in forward ice time.
The linemate upgrade from the likes of Will Smith, Tyler Toffoli, and William Eklund in San Jose to McDavid, Tom Wilson, and Nathan MacKinnon on Canada is a major factor. But Celebrini's no passenger.
Along with a superstar's skill set, Celebrini is assertive with and without the puck. He cares about the little details and rarely puts a bad shift on tape. It's hard to imagine any moment getting too big for him as Canada, which likely plays Czechia next, chases down gold.
Matthews line starting to hum
Team USA's offensive attack has mostly been powered by a two-way top line featuring Jack Eichel at center and the Tkachuk brothers on the wings. The trio - so smart, so skilled, so competitive - has dominated nearly all its shifts.
The rest of the forward group seemed out of sorts through wins over Latvia and Denmark. There were some notable individual stat lines and highlights, but the combinations below the Eichel line didn't seem quite right.
Coach Mike Sullivan exercised patience, rolling out similar lines with similar usage Sunday against Germany, and was rewarded. Auston Matthews, Jake Guentzel, and Matt Boldy - the other top-six line - had a particularly strong game. Captain Matthews, who's skating extremely well and shooting decisively from the high-danger area, looks primed for a huge week.
The Americans' biggest strengths are their super talented and well-rounded blue line and star-studded goalie room. The forward group is still the second-best in the tournament, though, and if the USA hopes to beat Canada, it'll need multiple lines humming. Sunday was an encouraging showing on that front.
Budding Harley-McDavid connection
Thomas Harley has been phenomenal thus far.
Canada's youngest defenseman ranks second on the blue line in scoring chance contributions, generating six chances of his own and assisting on six others, according to data tracked by hockey analyst Dimitri Filipovic.
Harley's gotten more ice time than expected with fellow lefty Josh Morrissey nursing an injury. He's found chemistry with veteran Drew Doughty, which is nice, but his most consequential connection is with McDavid.
Harley has made a habit of joining the rush when on the ice with the world's best player, and McDavid's made a habit of feathering passes to the streaking Stars defenseman. It's gone the other way, too: Harley connecting with an accelerating McDavid. The duo linked up early in Canada's game against Switzerland, with McDavid finding Harley all alone in the high slot. He snapped the puck past the goal line for his first Olympic goal and third point.
Can Harley and No. 97 continue feeding off each other?
3 Americans set to enter spotlight
There are three American players having quiet tournaments who I fully expect to grab the hockey world's attention at some point this week.
Dylan Larkin: After a low-impact start, Larkin was noticeable in the final round-robin game against Germany. Most crucially, USA's third-line center has picked up where he left off in the NHL, winning 19 of 33 faceoffs (79% success rate). Faceoffs take on greater importance in elimination games.
Jaccob Slavin: A 4 Nations Face-Off standout, Slavin hasn't been called upon for shutdown duty. Yet. His usage will change dramatically if/when the U.S. meets Sweden and Canada. The smart, fast, rangy Hurricanes defender is capable of limiting Sweden's William Nylander and Canada's McDavid.
Connor Hellebuyck: Will the reigning Hart Trophy winner attract attention for the right reasons? Hellebuyck has developed a reputation for failing to rise to the occasion in high-leverage NHL and international games. Team USA needs its starter to, at the very least, draw even with the other goalie in every game.
Sweden versus Sweden
Sweden's toughest opponent in the round robin? Itself.
Not only did the players generally perform below expectation, but coach Sam Hallam's deployment decisions were also odd. Filip Forsberg, one of Sweden's best players by any measure, was the 13th forward to start the tournament and is averaging an unacceptable 7:27 a game. Hallam's used struggling defenseman Victor Hedman too much, and he opted to keep Filip Gustavsson between the pipes after the netminder allowed two goals on four shots against Italy and then two goals on six shots against Finland.
All of this disorganization resulted in a difficult road to the medal round. Sweden, the seventh seed despite icing an all-NHLers roster, faces plucky Latvia in qualification with the gold-contending U.S. awaiting in the quarters.
Saros feeling it in Finnish net
Juuse Saros has logged the most minutes among goalies: 178:49.
The Finnish netminder is insulated by a defensive-minded skater group, yes, but he's done his part by turning aside 70 of 74 shots in three appearances. Although he wasn't sharp in a tournament-opening loss to Slovakia, he shined in a hotly contested victory over Sweden and then cruised to a shutout over Italy. All told, Saros has let in two goals during even-strength action.
The Finns don't have enough firepower to outscore top teams. They'll need epic defensive efforts to earn a medal - and it all starts with Saros' stopping.
Germany pushing studs to limit
As expected, top-heavy Germany is leaning heavily on its four prominent NHLers: Leon Draisaitl, Moritz Seider, Tim Stutzle, and JJ Peterka.
Seider, who's enjoying a Norris Trophy-caliber season for the Red Wings, leads the tournament in usage. He skated for 26:18, 27:41, and 26:20 in the round robin for a 26:48 average - one minute more than his NHL mark.
Draisaitl's fifth overall and tops among Olympic forwards at 23:23 a night after logging an absurd 28:30 in a loss to Latvia. Another German defenseman, Kai Wissmann, is 15th at 21:40, with Stutzle 16th at 21:21 and Peterka 18th at 20:55.
Sixth-seeded Germany should have no issues defeating France, but Slovakia would pose a much more significant challenge in the quarters.
Player to watch: Nemec
Canadiens power forward Juraj Slafkovsky is tied for second in tournament scoring with six points in three games. He's Slovakia's engine in Milan.
Still, Simon Nemec is the Slovak I'm dying to see in an elimination-game setting. The Devils' offensive defenseman - who celebrated his 22nd birthday over the weekend - has been tasked with a heavy workload. He's flourished on the top defense pairing with Martin Fehervary and toyed with penalty kills alongside Slafkovsky and Dalibor Dvorsky, another promising early-20s NHLer.
Nemec's chipped in just two points, but he's third on the team in shots on goal and second in scoring-chance contributions. He's generated six chances himself and added 11 chance assists.
No greater X-factor than Ehlers
Denmark will be the underdog Tuesday against Czechia. Yet it feels like the Danes are one signature Nikolaj Ehlers performance away from victory.
Ehlers, one of six NHLers on Denmark but the lone true game-breaker, was dangerous in all three round-robin contests. He collected a primary assist versus Germany, a primary assist versus the U.S., and a goal versus Latvia.
His explosive skating and deft playmaking are a lethal combination off the rush.
Winter Games living up to hype
We waited 12 long years for NHLers to return to the Olympics.
The first week of action provided everything you could ask for and then some.
The round robin was a continuation of last February's 4 Nations event: rapid pace, intense puck battles all over the ice, and world-class talent working together to accomplish a shared mission. There was no shortage of drama, from disallowed goals and late-game comebacks to highlight-reel goals and netminder gaffes to post-whistle scrums and hot-mic chirps. Minnows challenged powerhouses. Mid-tier nations overachieved. Powerhouses clashed.
Bring on the higher stakes, intensity, and pride of Week 2.
John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter/X (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).