Flames' Weegar A Top Candidate For Team Canada At 4 Nations

The 4 Nations Face-off is approaching, but injuries to star players across the league, especially Jacob Markstrom and Alex Pietrangelo, are starting to pile up.

On Sunday, news broke that the Vegas Golden Knights defender would skip the tournament to focus on recovering and preparing for the remainder of the regular season.

Sweden is already considering Sam Ersson as a potential Markström replacement. However, Canada still has time to decide who to bring to the tournament in Montreal and Boston.

One of the top trending names on social media is MacKenzie Weegar of the Calgary Flames.

When Canada announced its lineup, it chose three right-handed defensemen: Pietrangelo, Cale Makar, and Colton Parayko. Now, the team has four left-handed defenders and two righties.

Weegar was the seventh-highest-scoring right-handed Canadian defenseman at the time of the announcement. He had three goals and 14 points while earning a plus-1 rating. Additionally, half of his points came from the power play.

At the time, Makar (32 points) and Pietrangelo (15 points) were ahead of Weegar in scoring, while Parayko had 12 points and none on the power play.

Since Dec. 5, Weegar is the ninth-highest right-handed Canadian defender with three goals and 11 points. He's plus-9, the sixth-highest total among 53 eligible slaters. With three power-play points, Weegar also ranks sixth.

In 2024-25, Weegar has the exact point total (25) as Pietrangelo, with three extra goals and ten more power-play points. If discussing shots, the Flames defender shoots more, with 103, compared to the Golden Knights rearguard, who has 86.

Unfortunately, there is much social media chatter about whether Canada should take Evan Bouchard (Edmonton Oilers) or Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings) if he's healthy and back, leaving Weegar the odd man out again.

However, the 31-year-old is arguably Calgary's best defenseman. He's one of the reasons the team maintains a wildcard spot and has been successful early on.

Even though Weegar doesn't need a Team Canada selection to validate his accomplishments this season, it would be another honor and complement his 2023 World Championship.