Brady Tkachuk forced his way out of Ottawa. Connor Hellebuyck requested a trade from Winnipeg and has since been suspended for refusing to report. Quinn Hughes was dealt out of Vancouver after making clear he wouldn’t re-sign. All three are American, all three won Olympic gold together in February, and all three left Canadian clubs inside a year.
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan was asked on TSN’s OverDrive what connects them.
“One is the answer that I think everyone’s looking for, which is after the Olympics there were heightened political tensions,” Kaplan said. “And especially for players like Connor Hellebuyck and Brady Tkachuk, I think it was hard going back to their Canadian markets.”
Kaplan also noted that winning the gold medal itself played into it, which in Hellebuyck’s case is where the two threads meet. He stopped 41 of 42 shots in the final against Canada, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump afterwards, and attended a White House ceremony that drew heavy criticism north of the border. He has since said his wife was subjected to online abuse and threats.
Which American players have left Canadian teams?
The pattern stretches back further than this summer. Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau both left Calgary four years ago. Adam Fox and John Marino, drafted by Calgary and Edmonton respectively, refused to sign with either club and forced their way elsewhere. Senators owner Michael Andlauer summed up the problem from the other side after losing his captain: “You have to want to play for Ottawa.”
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Connor McDavid rejected the premise outright last month, arguing that players aren’t running from Canada but toward teams where they see a path to winning, and pointing to Americans who have recently chosen Edmonton.
No Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since Montreal in 1993.
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