One Canadian defenceman may refuse assignment to Olympics for personal reasons

Canada elected to bring back all 8 defenceman from the 4 Nations Faceoff, snubbing Evan Bouchard from the Oilers. Even if one player doesn't join the team, Bouchard may not even be the next man up.

According to Avalanche reporters, Toews and his wife are expecting a child early in February. He hasn't told Hockey Canada yet, but he doesn't intend to leave his family while expecting.

The Olympic hockey games are set to begin on February 5th and extend to February 22nd. With the tournament starting so early in February, there's a real chance Toews could deny the selection and stay home.

That would require Canada to select another defenceman, at least for the event that Toews doesn't make the trip. Being a left-shot defender, it's likely that the replacement would also be a lefty - which rules out Evan Bouchard.

The next left-shot defender who's made a strong case for Team Canada this year is Jakob Chychrun. With 30 points in 40 games and playing key minutes on a solid Capitals team, he arguably deserved to be selected in the first place.

It seems like a massive oversight for Canada to select a player who may not even choose to come, but Toews' reason is completely understandable.

This will be a developing situation to watch as the team nears their departing flight to Milan in early February.