Gone are the days when Canada enjoyed an embarrassment of riches in the crease.
Ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off, options in net appear limited — and Seattle Kraken netminder Joey Daccord may now need to be crossed off the list too, as he is ineligible to wear the maple leaf until he obtains a Canadian passport, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday Headlines.
Daccord, 28, was born in Boston to a Canadian father and Swiss mother. He is a Canadian citizen, but does not own a passport, which is required documentation to represent a country in the February tournament.
With a roster submission deadline of Monday, it means Daccord cannot be selected to the initial Canadian squad.
However, Friedman noted that injured players can be replaced on the roster up until Feb. 12 — and if Daccord has a passport by then, he could be an option to fill in should the circumstance arise.
Sportsnet will broadcast the full Canada and U.S. roster reveals on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT. Finland and Sweden's squads will be announced earlier in the day.
Daccord, the six-year NHL veteran, has played in 16 games for Seattle this season, going 10-5-1 with a .916 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against average. He appeared in 50 games for the Kraken last season with identical numbers.
Unlike the U.S., which faces the task of cutting top NHL goalies, Canada's trio remains unclear.
St. Louis' Jordan Binnington, Vegas' Adin Hill and Minnesota's Marc-Andre Fleury are among some options for Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong.
But Daccord, if he was eligible, would be tied with Detroit's Cam Talbot for the top save percentage among Canadian NHLers.
Meanwhile, Friedman said Daccord would still be able to choose between Canada, the U.S. or Switzerland at upcoming IIHF tournaments, which include May's world championship in Stockholm and the 2026 Olympics, since the 4 Nations is sanctioned by the NHL. It brings back memories of the decision faced by Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, who was being recruited by the United States, France and Cameroon before ultimately settling on the Americans and winning a gold medal at this year's Olympics in Paris.
The puck drops on the inaugural event on Feb. 12 with Canada set to battle Sweden at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
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