From Friday, Feb 6, 2026 until Sunday, Feb 22, 2026, the 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in Italy. Officially touted as the XXV Olympic Winter Games (also known as Milano Cortina 2026), is scheduled to take place from February 6 through to February 22, 2026 in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. Cortina d’Ampezzo is a ski resort town found in northern Italy.
Should the NHL and the NHLPA agree on participating in the Winter Olympics in 2026, imagine what the rosters will look like? We looked at five hockey nations and what there potential rosters could look like for the tournament. While it is unlikely that Russia will be allowed to participate we did include a potential roster for a Russian Olympic team along with Finland, Sweden, the United States and Canada.
Selection Criteria
To keep it simple we stuck with the standard format of twelve forwards, six defensemen and three goaltenders. We have also included two extra forward spots and two extra defensemen spots.
Team Finland
Team Finland looks to boast a strong forward contingent and a solid defensive corps. The one area in question, which is a bit surprising, may be in goal. Still could be in running for an Olympic medal in 2026.
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
| Patrik Laine – CBJ | Aleksander Barkov – FLA | Mikko Rantanen – COL |
| Erik Haula – NJD | Roope Hintz – DAL | Kasperi Kapanen – STL |
| Teuvo Teravainen – CAR | Sebastian Aho – CAR | Joel Armia – MTL |
| Toni Rajala – EHC Biel | Mikael Granlund – NSH | Eeli Tolvanen – SEA |
| Eetu Luostarinen – FLA | Jesperi Kotkaniemi – CAR |
| Left Defense | Right Defense |
| Miro Heiskanen – DAL | Esa Lindell – DAL |
| Olli Maatta – DET | Rasmus Ristolainen – PHI |
| Juuso Välimäki – ARI | Sami Vatanen – Geneve- Servette |
| Ville Pokka – Finland | Jani Hakanpää – DAL |
| Goaltenders |
| Juuse Saros – NSH |
| Ville Husso – DET |
| Harri Sateri – ARZ |
Team Sweden
Here is a look at the potential 2026 Team Sweden Olympic roster. They look pretty strong on the back end with solid goaltending and some strong offensive weapons. Always a threat to medal.
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing | |
| Filip Forsberg – NSH | Elias Pettersson – VAN | Mika Zibanejad – NYR | |
| Jesper Bratt – NJD | Elias Lindholm – CGY | William Nylander – TOR | |
| Marcus Johansson – MIN | Mikael Backlund – CGY | Viktor Arvidsson – LA | |
| Pierre Engvall – NYI | William Karlsson – VGK | Victor Olofsson – BUF | |
| Adrian Kempe – LA | Joel Eriksson Ek – MIN |
| Left Defense | Right Defense | |
| Victor Hedman – TB | Erik Karlsson – SJ | |
| Hampus Lindholm – BOS | Adam Larsson – SEA | |
| Rasmus Dahlen – BUF | Mattias Ekholm – EDM | |
| Erik Gustafsson – CHI | Gustav Forsling – FLA | |
| Goaltenders |
| Linus Ullmark – BOS |
| Jacob Markström – CGY |
| Filip Gustavsson – MIN |
Team Russia
Should Team Russia be allowed to participate (and there is nothing to suggest that they will), the 2026 Russian Men’s hockey team may consist of something like this:
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
| Kirill Kaprizov – Min | Evgeni Malkin – PIT | Nikita Kucherov – TB |
| Artemi Panarin – NYR | Yegor Sharangovich – CGY | Alex Radulov – Ak Bars Kazan |
| Alex Ovechkin – WSH | Evgeny Kuznetsov – WSH | Pavel Buchnevich – STL |
| Andrei Kuzmenko – VAN | Ivan Barbashev -VGK | Dmitri Jaskin – SKA S. Petersburg |
| Artturi Lehkonen – COL | Nikita Gusev – SKA St. Petersburg | |
| LD | RD | |
| Ivan Provorov – CBJ | Alexander Romanov – NYI | |
| Dmitry Orlov – CAR | Mikhail Sergachev – TB | |
| Vladislav Gavrikov – LA | Alexander Nikishin – SKA S Petrsburg | |
| Nikita Zadorov – CGY | Nikita Nesterov – CSKA Moskva | |
| Goaltenders | ||
| Igor Shesterkin – NYR | ||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy – TB | ||
| Alexandar Georgiev – COL |
Team Russia would be a formidable threat with the trio of goaltenders.
Team USA
The red, white and blue will be icing a very solid team with a number of veterans and young guns alike. Some decent goaltending and should be the highest scoring team in the tournament (again providing that the NHL and NHLPA agree to let players participate in the Olympic games).
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
| Matthew Tkachuk – FLA | Auston Matthews – TOR | Alex DeBrincat – DET |
| Brady Tkachuk – OTT | Jack Hughes – NJ | Clayton Keller – ARI |
| Jason Robertson – DAL | Jack Eichel – VGK | Conor Garland – VAN |
| Johnny Gaudreau – CBJ | J.T. Miller – VAN | Patrick Kane – NYR |
| Kyle Connor – WPG | Tage Thompson – BUF | |
| Left Defense | Right Defense | |
| Quinn Hughes – VAN | Adam Fox – NYR | |
| Noah Hanifin – CGY | Charlie McAvoy – BOS | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere – DET | Justin Faulk – STL | |
| K’Andre Miller – NYR | Jaccob Slavin – CAR | |
| Goaltenders | ||
| Connor Hellebuyck – WPG | ||
| Jake Oettinger – DAL | ||
| Jeremy Swayman – BOS |
Team Czechia
Team Czechia would be no slouch at the Olympic games either.
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
| Dominik Kubalík – OTT | David Krejci – BOS | David Pastrnak – BOS |
| David Kämpf – TOR | Tomas Hertl – SJ | Martin Nečas – CAR |
| Jakub Vrána – STL | Pavel Zacha – BOS | Michael Špaček – HC-Ambri-Piotta |
| Tomas Tatar – NJD | Filip Chytil – NYR | Jiri Cernoch – HC Karlovy Vary |
| Dominik Simon – ANA | Jiri Smejkal – Pelicans Lahti | |
| LD | RD | |
| Radim Simek – SJ | Filip Hronek – VAN | |
| Michal Kempný – WSH | Michael Spacek – Frolunda | |
| Davis Sklenicka – Karput Oulu | David Jiříček – Skoda Plzen | |
| Goaltenders | ||
| Vitek Vanecek – NJD | ||
| Karel Vejmelka – ARI | ||
| Lukas Dostal – ANA |
Team Canada
And of course, there is Team Canada. We have a couple of players that some of o the so-called hockey experts might ignore. There is no doubt that these players have earned the right for consideration. Offensively Team Canada will be as strong as any team in the tournament save possible the US team. Size and speed on the back end. The one area where Canadian fans may be a little nervous is in the crease.
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing | |
| Zach Hyman – EDM | Connor Mc David – EDM | Mitchell Marner – TOR | |
| Connor Bedard – CHI | Sidney Crosby – PIT | Brayden Point – TB | |
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – EDM | Nathan Mackinnon – COL | Mark Scheifele – WPG | |
| Jamie Benn – DAL | Steven Stamkos – TB | Owen Tippett – PHI | |
| Jared McCann – SEA | Nick Suzuki – MTL | ||
| LD | RD | ||
| Thomas Chabot – OTT | Cale Makar – COL | ||
| Morgan Rielly – TOR | Dougie Hamilton – NJD | ||
| Josh Morrissey – WPG | Brent Burns – CAR | ||
| Evan Bouchard – EDM | Vince Dunn – SEA | ||
| Goaltenders | |||
| Marc-Andre Fleury – MIN | |||
| Carter Hart – PHI | |||
| Adin Hill – VGK |
There will be high expectations for Team Canada with the game’s greatest player in Connor McDavid finally getting a chance to play best on best with hockey’s elite. There are four to five teams who could all win gold, and you never know with a few upsets a solid bet could miss securing a medal altogether. Canadian brass will most likely add Connor Bedard (he didn’t make our list as he has yet to play an NHL game). Expect that the young Blackhawk will receive some consideration for the team.
Let’s hope that we get a true best on best tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
