At the end of the month the Olympic rosters will need to be set, even if the league is still in a panic over the status of the arena. This means it is now or never for having the conversation about whether or not John Tavares should factor into Team Canada’s plans. There is more than enough talent in the Canadian forward group that pretty much anyone not named in the initial roster selection is far from a lock. (Brayden Point and his 11 points in 21 games is certainly looking like a misstep at the moment.)

Besides the easy comparison to Brayden Point to show that John Tavares is deserving, it’s worth looking at how he’s doing compared to the field. Tavares is presently the fifth highest scoring Canadian player 5v5 and the 13th highest scoring player overall (12th highest forward). In addition to being ahead of already selected players like Point and Sam Reinhart (it’s safe to say that Reinhart’s defensive game makes up the two point difference), Tavares has also outscored Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, Seth Jarvis, Travis Konecny, Mat Barzal, Sam Bennett, and Anthony Cirelli, although a number of those players could be seen as bringing different elements to their game that Tavares may not have.

It’s also worth considering that while Hockey Canada is making up their mind on Tavares, there are other players that didn’t factor into the Four Nations tournament and hot hands that might have played their way into contention too. Mark Scheifele, Macklin Celebrini, Connor Bedard, Morgan Geekie, and Wyatt Johnson also making strong cases. Celebrini and Bedard being the future stars of the league make their exclusion a tough case to make.

The case for Tavares is his track record with Hockey Canada. The World U-18’s, the World Juniors, the World Championships, Olympics, and even the Spengler Cup, Tavares has represented Canada well in the past and if the Canada is going with a youth movement, they might also want to include one of their all-time leading scorers in International play to balance that out. (The argument that Crosby, MacKinnon, and Marchand have that covered is a fair one.)

There are other arguments worth considering when it comes to Tavares and while they might not prove he’s a lock, they should establish why he’s a hard player to leave out of the lineup.

When it comes to an initial Team Canada roster, John Tavares might still be a long shot, but there is a lot of hockey to be played between the December 31st deadline and puck drop on February 11th. Tavares might gain more consideration for the reserve list at this point. The 2008 World Juniors might have been a long time ago, but it serves as a permanent reminder of how John Tavares will elevate his game when representing his country.