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Team Canada defenseman Cale Makar missed the team’s practice Friday due to an illness, meaning he could miss Saturday night’s tilt against Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off in Montreal.

Canada coach Jon Cooper declined to say that he “expected” Makar to be available, but he signaled optimism.

“Expect is a big word,” Cooper told reporters. “But I’m confident. I’m confident he’ll be there.”

In the meantime, Thomas Harley of the Dallas Stars has headed to Montreal to fill in on the blue line in case Makar cannot play Saturday. During practice, forward Travis Konecny spent some time playing defenseman.

“We’ll see what happens (Saturday),” Cooper said. “I’m not really too sure what will happen. But at the end of the day, you just have to adjust. In practice today, (Konecny) was back there helping us out on the blue line and hopefully Cale will be good to go (Saturday).”

Canada already had seven defensemen on its original roster for the new international tournament. But Shea Theodore of the Vegas Golden Knights was injured in the first game Wednesday against Sweden and will not be available the rest of the tournament, pushing seventh D-man Travis Sanheim into action.

Makar, 26, would be a big loss for Canada offensively as well. The four-time All-Star and 2022 Norris Memorial Trophy winner for best defenseman in the NHL led everyone at his position at the league break with 63 points (22 goals, 41 assists).

Canada and the U.S. each won their first games of the tournament over Sweden and Finland, respectively. At the end of the round robin, the top two teams are slated to play for the championship Feb. 20 in Boston.

–Field Level Media