Adam Fox is a top 10 defenseman in the entire world. Not just a top 10 defenseman born in the United States, but a top 10 defenseman in the entire world. There is not a country participating in the Olympics that Fox not only should make the team, but also should be in the lineup getting big minutes. Yet somehow Team USA left him off the roster. Adam Fox’s Olympic snub is patently absurd, and there is very little logic to explain away Fox’s omission.
While Fox was originally one of the first six players selected to the Four Nations roster, Fox’s struggles during that tournament somehow knocked him all the way off the roster. Essentially, a five game sample size from an injured Fox brought him from confirmed top three defenseman in the country, to outside of the top eight altogether.
This is the same brass that is likely to take a pair of Rangers in Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller to Italy, despite neither having a season anywhere near the level of Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson. This is the same brass that left Robertson, Cole Caulfield, Tage Thompson, and Clayton Keller off the Four Nations roster, only to see the team fail to score the necessary goals to win the tournament.
This is the same brass that named Auston Matthews captain for the Four Nations, then after a disastrous tournament, named him as one of the first selections for the Olympics. This is the same brass that saw Jack Hughes have a horrific tournament while playing uninjured, yet still is giving him a guaranteed spot on the Olympic roster.
I am not claiming there is some American bias that led to Adam Fox’s Olympic snub. What I am claiming, is that American GM Bill Guerin doesn’t quite understand what he’s doing. Guerin wants a “true team” which means he will have guys like Brock Nelson, Trocheck, and Miller on the roster, but creating that true team will mean if a Jake Guentzel for example gets injured, suddenly the top six will be that much weaker. Guerin wants to fill specific roles, yet is likely to go with a left-handed defenseman over Fox, a righty. That will create a glut of lefties and a shortage of righties.
Besides, the notion that Adam Fox was the reason the United States lost the Four Nations is ridiculous. Yes, Fox was a large part of the tournament-losing goal, but USA’s golden boy Auston Matthews had more to do with the fiasco. Again, Matthews had a horrible tournament and still made the first selections and is likely to be named Captain for a second time.
Unfortunately Adam Fox’s Olympic snub means he won’t be going to Italy unless there’s an injury, an embarrassing fate for a defenseman who should never have to worry about such a thing. As soon as a month from now, we’ll be talking about it being an all-time mistake by the brass.
One more thing– that brass includes Chris Drury and Mike Sullivan. If the Rangers face any internal backlash for Adam Fox’s Olympic snub, it will only add to the embarrassment. Step one needs to be getting Fox to understand what happened and not hold it against the organization.
If I were Fox, though, I’d be feeling a way I can’t put onto the internet.