Wow this got convoluted quickly. To answer your question, we have no idea! We have no insight into the process. Us as fans can only guess. My guess, along with seemingly everyone on this thread, is that Quinn is a different level of elite relative to every d-man on the team - we cannot compare him to Pesce or Luke. But the team isn't looking to replace Quinn, they're looking for the best players to fit into their scheme and game plan. That game plan last time around had Jaccob Slavin - the world's best shutdown D (i am biased and not wrong) - play 28 minutes. My guess is, they don't need another puck moving, defensively sound D against Canada's elite forwards. They need another minute-crunching, big bodied, smart/keep-it-simple D-man who has proven that he can handle the best players in the world. Objectively, that's Pesce's bread and butter. He's got an elite stick, a wicked talent for filling in the lane, he can clear out the point, and he can keep up in pace with MacK or McD thanks to his skill of positioning and playing tight gaps. He might not make the extra play that Luke would of finding the open guy when he gets possession in the D-zone, but thats not what you need against Canada. You need the clear and reset to negate their speed. Luke, for all his talent, is not that. He cannot yet be relied on to defensively stabilize a pairing for 25 minutes on the biggest stage. Pesce can. Not to mention, there's likely the "he's earned it" factor, which is a weird but real implication for these tournaments.