Kyle Connor has fallen out of favor with the United States once again

Once again, Kyle Connor finds himself on the outside looking in with Team USA. After he was healthy scratched for the final of the 4 Nations Face-Off last year, he’s seen his ice time shrink over the first two preliminary games of the 2026 Olympics, and was scratched again for the third game against Germany.

But when the United States already had scoring depth questions after leaving some players at home for role-playing types like Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller, can the Americans afford to leave a player who has scored at a 30+ goal pace every season of his career, especially as they’ll need to face top teams like Canada and Sweden to capture gold?

Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton talked about Connor and why the United States aren’t playing him on Daily Faceoff Live.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I understand you want guys in different roles and things of that nature. But when you get to the medal round, when again one goal, one shot can grossly change an outcome of a hockey game. I’m stunned that they don’t want to play Kyle Connor. There’s clearly something here that this coaching staff is not seeing in Kyle Connor.

Carter Hutton: Yeah, it’s very interesting for a guy that is so dominant in the NHL and such a good playmaker and he’s a game breaker. That’s what you talk about when you look at this team. I think he can be valuable in any single role with his skating.

So it is weird as I look back on the 4-Nations final, and again, you’re trying to break down because these teams won’t meet each other unless it is in the final. Kyle Connor could be that difference-maker in a game changing moment.

I think that’s your point where you look at the addition of Tage Thompson in this lineup. Game changer, right? These are guys that can make big plays in big moments and Clayton Keller is subbed in there as well.

So I do wonder what it is and is there something on the defensive side of the puck that he is lacking here they think that it could be a flight risk of him being on the ice and giving up more than you’re going to get.

So it is surprising. If we look back on this and they don’t get to the promised land, are they going to regret not playing Kyle Connor, Jason Robertson, Cole Caufield, these guys that can find the back of the net, which created big question marks that they were left off Team USA.

You can watch the full episode here…