Team USA didn't think they would have such a big matchup staring them in the face in the Olympic quarterfinal. Thanks to a surprising result in Pool B, where Slovakia won the group over Sweden and Finland, the Americans will now have to take on the high-powered Swedes to get to the medal round.
There aren't too many reasons to want to change things up with Team USA's dominant run to the second seed in the tournament. However, they had a relatively easy road in Pool C. Sweden will be their first real test, and Craig Button believes the defensive pairings might need a minor adjustment to be at their best.
Does Team USA 🇺🇸 need to make an adjustment to its defense pairs heading into the knockout stage?@CraigJButton knows the swap. They've had some sloppy stretches in their own end with turnovers and loose play.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 17, 2026
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Charlie McAvoy has been playing the entire tournament as a pairing with Quinn Hughes. The Minnesota Wild's newest defender has been playing more minutes, sometimes double-shifting and playing with Zach Werenski, but his most common partner is McAvoy. However, Button believes that the best pairing for him is his Wild teammate, Brock Faber.
"I'd make an adjustment if I was the coaches. I'd have Faber play with Hughes and I'd put McAvoy with Slavin. I think Faber is a better fit for Hughes. Charlie is such a top-notch player. So is Brock. But I think Charlie takes a little more risk in his game, which I think doesn't help Quinn. Whereas Slavin doesn't take risks, which I think helps Charlie. I think that's something that makes it cleaner. "Craig Button
Bruins' tie-in for Craig Button's take
The pairing of Hughes and McAvoy raised some eyebrows from me when the team took the ice for their first practice. On paper, the pairing is elite and one of the most talented in the tournament. However, Boston Bruins fans know that Button isn't entirely wrong with his comments about McAvoy being a risk-taker.
Bruins fans have already seen this scenario play out this season. McAvoy started the year as Mason Lohrei's partner, but both were taking too many risks, causing more headaches than anything else. It led to the benching of Lohrei and the forming of the McAvoy-Nikita Zadorov pairing.
McAvoy was much steadier alongside a defensive presence in Zadorov, like Button believes he would be alongside another defensive defenseman in Slavin. Lohrei excelled alongside some more steady presences further down the lineup, and the rest is history for both defensemen.
The reason Button's take might not come true is the fact that it's a short tournament. The pairing hasn't steered Mike Sullivan in the wrong direction yet, and he's unlikely to go away from it in the quarterfinals. If the American head coach needs to change his pairings on Wednesday, it's likely already too late.
Button's line of thinking isn't wrong, it just might be poorly timed.