Regarding your point on the Tampa players, I think you need to look at Point separately from Hagel and Cirelli. Other than MacKinnon, Point is really the one guy on the roster who can hang with McDavid in terms of speed, and likely has the requisite skill to complement him as well. If anything, Point was under-utilized in the first few games, and was well-deserving of his "promotion" up to the McDavid line. That's where he belongs - on McDavid's or MacKinnon's wing, in a scoring role.
I've seen enough of Cirelli to think that he is in over his head at this level of competition. He's a great puck hound and PKer, but isn't skilled enough offensively to produce at a tournament such as this. He's also weak on the faceoff dot. For a defensive centre, we (Canada) need someone better at that aspect of the game and ideally that defensive centre would be offensively gifted enough to not only shut-down the opposition's best lines, but also contribute offensively, Cirelli is a black-hole offensively, so when he's on the ice we seem to be in the mindset of defending, not attacking. Alas, Canada does not seem to have a Jonathan Toews at their disposal at this point in the cycle.
Hagel is between the two, I think. I like what I've seen out of Hagel. I think he belongs; maybe not in an important role on this team or on the 2026 team, but a supporting/depth role would be fine for him. He's a very good player. I think he'd be more productive at this tournament if he wasn't attached to Cirelli's hip throughout.
I agree that Cooper rode Cirelli and Hagel a little too hard early in the tournament. The ice times seemed to be better distributed in the Finland game, but I'd still like to see Cirelli and Hagel more at the 10-12 minute level.
As for Jarvis, I would have liked to have seen more of him, but I can't see Cooper scratch Konecny for the final. If that's the case, then I agree with Cooper on that call. Konecny and Bennett play a more rugged, in-your-face style of game more suitable against this U.S. team. This is such a short tournament and there isn't many games or much opportunity to shuffle players in and out depending on the opposition. Obviously Jarvis made the subtle but high-skilled pass on the Marchand goal in the Sweden game. He played a clean game. I actually think Jarvis and Hagel on the wings of a more offensively-competent, 200 foot centre (say, Robert Thomas) could have been a really good line for us. In the end, a forward needs to be scratched. I don't think there is really any shame in that for Jarvis. Jarvis acquitted himself very well in limited ice time and probably solidified a spot for himself on the 2026 Olympic team.
