Team Canada’s Brayden Point will not participate in the Milan Cortina Olympics due to a lower-body injury, with Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis named as his replacement Thursday.
Point, 29, hasn’t played for the Tampa Bay Lightning since Jan. 12, when he appeared to injure his knee against the Philadelphia Flyers and was helped off the ice. He was placed on injured reserve Jan. 16, and the team called his status “week to week.” Point was moved to long-term injured reserve this week.
Point had been skating since Saturday in the hopes of working back in time for the Olympic tournament, which begins Feb. 11. But Team Canada announced that Jarvis would draw in for the Lightning center.
After a slow start to the season, Point had 30 points in 37 games for Tampa Bay. Last season, he had 42 goals in 77 games, and also had a goal and an assist in Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off championship run.
Point had the honor of being one of the first six players named to the Canadian Olympic roster, along with Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Connor McDavid and Sam Reinhart. Lightning coach Jon Cooper is the head coach of the Canadian team, while Tampa Bay general manager Julien Brisebois is part of the team’s management group.
Point is the second Tampa Bay player to be pulled from the Olympics due to injury. Center Anthony Cirelli was replaced by Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett earlier this week.
Jarvis, 24, was also on Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, tallying one assist in three games, but he was left off their Olympic roster despite three straight seasons of at least 25 goals in the NHL. Jarvis has 25 goals and 18 assists in 48 games for the Hurricanes this season.
After Carolina’s win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, Jarvis was asked about continuing to make an impression Team Canada.
“I think I blew that opportunity already. I think that part’s done,” he said with a laugh. “I mean, you never know. I’m just trying to play the best hockey I can for the Hurricanes, and whether that results in me somehow ending up in the Olympics, that’d be cool, but that’s definitely not my focus. I’m focusing on the guys in here, the team in here, and winning however we can.”
The Milan Cortina Games mark the first time the NHL is sending its players to the Winter Olympics since 2014. The Canadian men have won gold in each of the last two tournaments involving NHL players.
