Brad Marchand Update —Who Comes Out of Canada’s Quarterfinal Lineup?

Brad Marchand watched a second consecutive game from the stands on Sunday, as Team Canada cruised to a 10–2 win over Team France to put themselves in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

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The exact reason for Marchand once again being the odd man out wasn’t initially clear, though a nagging injury that has kept him in and out of the Florida Panthers’ lineup seemed like the likely explanation. Head coach Jon Cooper confirmed as much postgame, while also assuring that the veteran winger will return for Canada’s quarterfinal matchup.

TSN reporter Mark Masters shared the update on X (formerly Twitter).

“Brad Marchand had been dealing with something so they figured it was best to keep him out today … he will be in the lineup for QF on Wednesday,”

The 37-year-old registered one point (one assist) in 9:29 of action in his lone appearance of these Olympics so far against Team Czechia.

Who Will Come out of Canada’s Quarterfinal Lineup?

With Marchand set to re-enter the mix, that, of course, means one of the 13 forwards dressed over the last two games in his absence will come out. Nobody has played their way out of the lineup, though all signs would point to it coming down to Sam Bennett, Seth Jarvis, and perhaps even Nick Suzuki.

While some haven’t been overly impressed with Suzuki’s performance, it’s important to remember he’s a natural center adjusting to the wing, so his versatility will be a major asset for Canada in the elimination rounds.

Because of that, the decision likely boils down to Bennett or Jarvis, and while Jarvis has looked solid in limited minutes, he appears to be the most likely candidate to come out, given he’s primarily a winger, while both Suzuki and Bennett offer the flexibility to play anywhere.

The good news for Canada is that they have time to make the decision, as they’ll be off until Wednesday for a quarterfinal matchup that—assuming they finish first—would come against the winner of Czechia versus Denmark.

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