MONTREAL — The future of Cale Makar, the Canadian defenseman, remains uncertain after he was unable to participate in Saturday night’s 4 Nations Face-Off game against the United States due to illness.

Following the team’s 3-1 defeat, Coach Jon Cooper indicated that Makar was close to being fit to play but did not provide clarity on his availability for the upcoming match against Finland on Monday afternoon in Boston. “I can’t say what the outlook is right now,” Cooper stated. “Ultimately, the decision was made for him not to play. These choices are made in the best interest of the player. Everyone wishes to be on the ice contributing, especially him. However, it wasn’t possible tonight, so we’ll see. Hopefully, he’ll be ready for Monday, but that is still undetermined.”

With Makar sidelined, Thomas Harley from the Dallas Stars was brought in as a replacement after being added to the roster in light of Makar’s illness and Shea Theodore’s tournament-ending injury sustained during the opening match against Sweden on Wednesday.

Makar, who won the Norris Trophy and was the playoff MVP in 2022 while leading Colorado to a Stanley Cup victory, was regarded as a game-time decision after missing practice on Friday. However, Cooper refrained from suggesting that Makar would definitely play in the next game.

Canada’s defensive lineup was noticeably weakened in Makar’s absence, as they also were missing Alex Pietrangelo, who withdrew from the tournament to address what the Vegas Golden Knights described as an “ailment” and to concentrate on the remainder of the NHL season. Harley logged just over 18 minutes on ice, while Philadelphia’s Travis Sanheim managed 15:14, necessitating some realignment of defensive pairings by Cooper.

In an agreement between the league and the NHL Players’ Association, Canada was permitted to make a substitution instead of competing with a short roster, which originally stated that each team could only add a player if they had less than 18 healthy skaters, regardless of position.