Report: Stars’ Thomas Harley to travel as standby defensemen for Canada’s 4 Nations team

The wheels are in motion to ensure that Canada is fully staffed when the 4 Nations Face-Off shifts venues in case they have any more casualties.

Chris Johnston of The Athletic reported on Thursday that Canada is having Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley travel to Boston to stand by as an extra defender in case of emergency.

This all stems from the injury suffered by Canadian defenseman Shea Theodore in the team’s 4-3 overtime win over Sweden in the tournament’s opening game on Wednesday night. Canada head coach Jon Cooper revealed after the victory that the Vegas Golden Knights blueliner would miss the rest of the event due to a suspected injury to his right side.

According to Johnston, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said that Hockey Canada was told they could have an extra defender standby. Still, they would not become members of the team until their roster dipped below six defensemen – which is all that Canada has now as a result of Theodore’s injury.

Each team has only been permitted to have 23 players on the roster – 20 skaters and three goaltenders – not leaving much room for injuries or sudden departures. That came from members of the NHLPA, who voiced that they weren’t in favor of giving up their breaks just to be a healthy scratch during the tournament.

Harley hasn’t played for Team Canada since losing to the U.S. in the gold medal game of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship. The Syracuse, New York native (who has dual citizenship) also played for Canada at the 2019 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship and the 2018 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge.

Canada is set to host the United States in a crucial matchup on Saturday night in Montreal, the final game before the 4 Nations Face-Off moves to Boston.