Team USA GM Bill Guerin Explains His Reasoning Behind Head-Scratching Roster Decisions

We now know which players will represent the United States in the men's hockey tournament at the 2026 Olympics in Milan, and the reveal has not been a huge hit with a lot of armchair GMs… myself included.

I already talked about why I thought Trevor Zegras could be an omission the Americans regret come February, but there were many, many names that got snubbed.

While the defense and goalie selections look solid, the forwards have been the talk of hockey.

I mean, it probably should be. Players averaging a point-per-game or more, like Montreal's Cole Caufield, Dallas' Jason Robertson, the aforementioned Zegras, and more, were left off the roster in favor of veterans producing at much lower clips like Brock Nelson, JT Miller, and Vincent Trocheck.

So, the man making the decision, Minnesota Wild and Team USA GM Bill Guerin, is answering his critics.

"We have to make a team," Guerin said. "I mean, like I said before, if you're doing it like that, then you don't need a general manager, and you don't need a coach."

Guerin went on to talk about the importance of role players in building a team like this.

"We have to fill roles," he continued. "We have certain responsibilities that go up and down the lineup that we need players that are elite in those categories. Listen, there are so many guys that aren't on this roster that could be on the roster. I understand it, and those decisions don't come lightly. Take my word, those are not fun phone calls to make. But in the end, we have a job to do and put together a team, not just a group of individuals. It's a team."

I had a feeling this would be the case. It's the "not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right ones" approach, which I get… but are those not an indicator of who is hot right now?

Last I checked, they were pretty good for that.

READ: TEAM CANADA SNUBS BEDARD, ADDS MACKLIN CELEBRINI AND SOME TOM WILSON GRIT FOR 2026 OLYMPICS

But hey, Guerin is the kind of GM who isn't opposed to taking risks and going with his gut. Look at that trade he made for Quinn Hughes a few weeks back. It was a gutsy, high-risk, high-reward move, and maybe that's what he's doing with this lineup.

We'll see which side ends up being right come February, but bottom-six scoring becomes an issue for Team USA; Bill Guerin is probably going to hear about it.