My projected Team Canada Men's Olympic hockey roster

Milano / Cortina 2026 has already been in the NHL headlines, most notably for having rink sizes smaller than NHL regulation.

Sochi 2014 was the last time NHL players participated in Olympic hockey. Team Canada will put their official roster out on New Year’s Eve so mark your calendars!

That being said, I personally think it’s been blown into a bigger issue than it really is. Absolutely, player safety is first and foremost. But NHL players have waited 12 years for this opportunity to present itself to them again.

Then again, there’s also the possibility of the ice not being ready. That would be an absolute top-tier bummer.

Roster construction is always an exercise I thoroughly enjoy, especially with it’s as challenging as whittling down Canadian NHL forwards to a group of 13 or 14.

In 2014, Canada took 14 forwards and six blue-liners.

As well regarding NHL Olympic participation, everyone saw how much all four teams wanted to win the Four Nations tournament, the 2024-25 substitute for the NHL All-Star game. Sure, notable names like Nikita Kucherov (Russia) and Leon Draisaitl (Germany) were left off. But the players that did compete showed a unique hunger to win.

Let me clarify what I mean by that. Of course players want to win with their NHL club. You don’t get to that level by not caring if you win or not. But there’s something noticeably different about seeing players like Sidney Crosby and Matthew Tkachuk put on their national team uniforms and leave everything on the ice.

Plus, especially as a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, it was weird to not root for Auston Matthews and instead root for, gasp, Brad Marchand in the Four Nations tournament.

I mean, how do you not root for a guy like that?

Yes, as a Leafs fan, I love to root against Marchand when he’s playing an NHL game. But he’s exactly the kind of player every fan base (especially Toronto) would love to have on their team. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want Marchand to sign with the Leafs this past off-season. In fact, I had numerous dreams during the summer of seeing him put on the blue-and-white. That would have been something.

Tangent over. Back to my projected 2026 roster for Team Canada.

For some perspective, here’s Canada’s Sochi 2014 roster.

I suspect Canada follows the Four Nations playbook and opt for 13 forwards and seven defenders, along with the standard three goalies.

Set in stone to compete for Canada in February are forwards Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Brayden Point, Sam Reinhart, and defender Cale Makar.

If GM Doug Armstrong decides to bring 13 forwards and seven defenders, here’s how it might shake out.

Let’s start with arguably the most important position group.

Goalies:

Martin Biron named his three goalies, opting to put Four Nations winner and 32-year-old Richmond Hill native Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues) in the press box - goalie #3 on the depth chart due to his subpar start to the season. Among active Canadian NHL goalies this season, Binnington is 3rd last in goals-against-average at 3.49 in 21 games.

Binnington will always be in the conversation regardless of his current play. Despite his current inconsistency, he helped the Blues with the 2019 Stanley Cup over Marchand’s Boston Bruins and was imperative in the Four Nations final against the US at Boston’s TD Garden, a building he’s quite familiar with. That was the site of Game 7 in 2019.

Biron had 35-year-old Saskatoon product Darcy Kuemper (Los Angeles Kings) on the bench. This season for the Kings, Kuemper has a 2.23 GAA in 21 starts.

Kuemper is another Stanley Cup-winner, having helped the Colorado Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2022.

Starting in net for Team Canada, Biron has the 28-year-old hailing from Calgary, Logan Thompson (Washington Capitals). In 22 starts, he sports a 1.96 GAA.

This ranks 3rd in the NHL among goalies with 10 or more starts. Swedes Jesper Wallstadt of the Minnesota Wild (12 games played) and Dennis Hildeby of the Maple Leafs (11 games played) have lower GAA. American Jonathan Quick has seven starts for the New York Rangers but also has a lower GAA than Thompson.

I can’t say I disagree with any of Biron’s picks here. But some thought should be given to Brampton’s Scott Wedgewood of the Colorado Avalanche. So far this season, Wedgewood has a 2.11 GAA and 0.920 save percentage.

Binnington’s backups from the Four Nations tournament, Adin Hill and Sam Montembault, have both shown their inconsistencies. Hill hasn’t looked the same since he helped the Vegas Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup in 2022-23, which was also his best NHL season. Montembault is currently with the AHL’s Laval Rocket.

Tristan Jarry is another potential goalie Canada could select with his NHL resume showing some good signs but more recent inconsistencies likely drop him out of consideration.

To differ slightly from Biron’s picks, I’ll substitute Kuemper for Wedgewood.

Final goalie group: Logan Thompson, Scott Wedgewood, and Jordan Binnington.

Missed the cut: Darcy Kuemper, Tristan Jarry.

Moving out from the net, solid defenders are always required to win any tournament, as much as goal-scoring forwards are.

Defenders:

With Cale Makar already on the roster, going 13/7 gives me six roster spots to play around with. Well, five if we assume Avalanche teammate Devon Toews would join him again as he did for the Four Nations. With the Avalanche arguably poised to win it all again, who says Toews won’t be on the roster?

With Alex Pietrangelo (King City, Ont.) out with injury, there are still a number of options to fill out the back lines.

New York Islanders’ rookie Matthew Schaefer (Stoney Creek, Ont.) is sixth among all Canadian NHL defenders in points this season with 23 and a +8 in 34 games. That at least warrants a conversation for him to be on the roster for Milan.

The Winnipeg Jets have had their issues this season, but Josh Morrissey (Calgary, Alta.) has been producing almost a point per game. Especially after missing the Four Nations final against the US with an illness, he’ll have a unique chip on his shoulder.

Alex Ovechkin might not be headed to Milan (a travesty, to be frank) but that’s out of even the NHL’s control. But the Washington Capitals might have more than just Logan Thompson going to Milan. Jacob Chychrun (Boca Raton, FL with dual citizenship) is up to 26 points in 33 games, as well as a +23. The only Canadian defender ahead of him here is Makar, at a blistering +32.

Noah Dobson (Summerside, PEI) of the Montreal Canadiens is sitting at 20 points in 36 games, averaging 22:30 of ice time a game. Now, being a Leafs fan, this was a tough pill to swallow. I’d like to see Morgan Rielly get a look for the Olympic team but there are a few other names that have stood out more than he has this season.

The Calgary Flames have a number of promising young players, especially on defense. Mackenzie Weegar (Ottawa, Ont.) was a part of the return Calgary got for Matthew Tkachuk from the Florida Panthers. He only missed a total of two games in his first three full seasons in Calgary but he has not been immune to the team’s struggles this year.

The Philadelphia Flyers’ Travis Sanheim (Elkhorn, Man.) was a part of the group that won Four Nations gold but another name on that roster gets the edge on my blue line with his NHL team currently performing better than Sanheim’s.

The Dallas Stars are right at the top of the Western Conference with the Colorado Avalanche. Thomas Harley (Syracuse, NY with dual citizenship) has experience with the national team through Four Nations final, stepping in for Morrissey and playing a notable role in helping Canada beat the US at TD Garden.

Final defenders group: Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Matthew Schaefer, Josh Morrissey, Jacob Chychrun, Noah Dobson, and Thomas Harley.

Missed the cut: Alex Pietrangelo (long-term injury), Morgan Rielly, Mackenzie Weegar, and Travis Sanheim.

Finally, Canada’s biggest strength is it’s skill depth in the forward group. Notable names will be left out. Imagine if a country could send something crazy like 15 forwards and five defenders? Oh man.

Forwards:

With five spots given to Crosby, MacKinnon, McDavid, Point, and Reinhart, I’ll have eight spots to fill out for 13 forwards.

In his first season with the Vegas Golden Knights, Mitch Marner (Markham, Ont.) has 36 points through 34 games. Notably, he only has seven goals but 29 assists. And who can forget him setting up McDavid for the Four Nations OT winner?

In his first full season in Florida Panthers colors, Brad Marchand (Hammonds Plains, NS) already has 20/20 for 40 points in just 36 games. Not bad for a 37-year-old, right?

Going from Marchand to the next two names is quite the contrast as both are still very much at the beginning of their NHL careers.

The Chicago Blackhawks have so far been unable to surround Connor Bedard (North Vancouver, BC) with the right blend of talent for the team to be a contender, but he hasn’t let that stop him from producing this season. With 44 points in 31 games, Bedard can definitely learn a thing or two from playing with the nation’s best in Milan.

Another young Canadian forward deserving of a spot plays for the San Jose Sharks. Macklin Celebrini (North Vancouver, BC) has an impressive 54 points in just 36 games. He not only shares Bedard’s hometown. The two might even be line-mates this February.

As with Morrissey, Mark Scheifele (Kitchener, Ont.) of the Winnipeg Jets has not allowed the team’s disappointing start to affect his personal numbers. Through 32 games, the 32-year-old veteran sports 43 points, good enough for fifth among all Canadian NHL forwards this season.

Joining his Golden Knights teammate Mitch Marner on this roster, Mark Stone (Winnipeg, Man.) was a noticeable leader for Team Canada at the Four Nations. He’s only played 18 games so far this season but has 27 points.

Marner’s former teammates John Tavares (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Toronto Maple Leafs has only gotten better since signing with the Leafs. So far this season, the 35-year-old has 32 points in 36 games. This is exactly the player every team loves having in front of the other team’s goalie, causing havoc.

The Philadelphia Flyers don’t have all the pieces yet to contend, but Travis Konecny (London, Ont.) currently sits on 31 points in 35 games. He gets the final forward spot on my roster for two simple reasons. He can produce, and he was unable to play in the Four Nations tournament due to injury (see the Marchand hyperlink above).

Brandon Hagel (Saskatoon, Sask.) has the chemistry with Point being teammates in Tampa Bay. However, I opted for a few more veteran players who might not get another Olympics opportunity. At 27 years old, Hagel should have at least one more Olympic cycle in him.

After a very impressive start to the season, the Montreal Canadiens have cooled off a smidge. Nick Suzuki (London, Ont.) still has 40 points in 36 games. That said, he’s 26 years old and should be even better for 2030.

The Dallas Stars have great been to start the year. Wyatt Johnston (Toronto, Ont.) so far has 41 points in 37 games. But he’s only 22 years old and should have at least two more cracks at the Olympics after 2026.

Final forwards group: Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Brayden Point, Sam Reinhart, Mitch Marner, Brad Marchand, Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, Mark Scheifele, Mark Stone, and John Tavares.

Missed the cut: Brandon Hagel, Nick Suzuki, and Wyatt Johnston.