The 2026 Olympics are five months away. The 12-team men’s hockey tournament runs Feb. 11-22 in Milan, Italy.
Countries announced six roster selections each in June. They’ll name their final 19 players in January.
Here are the key Olympic storylines to watch as the NHL season approaches.
Goalie spots should stay flexible
Goaltending is the most unpredictable position in sports. Unknown players become stars within weeks. Proven veterans struggle for months.
Each country needs to keep an open mind about goalies.
Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill, and Sam Montembeault represented Canada at the recent 4 Nations Face-Off. That doesn’t guarantee all three deserve Olympic spots.
Darcy Kuemper posted the best numbers among Canadian goalies in 2024-25. He saved 30 goals above expected, according to Sportlogiq, with a .922 save percentage in 50 games. Mackenzie Blackwood had his first full season in Colorado. Logan Thompson took on a bigger role in Washington.
Both deserve strong consideration.
The U.S. net belongs to Connor Hellebuyck. But let’s use pencil, not ink, for the reigning Hart Trophy winner’s name next to “starter.”
Jake Oettinger or Jeremy Swayman could get hot by February. Thatcher Demko has proven he can stop pucks at a Vezina-caliber level when healthy. Can he earn the No. 2 or 3 spot?
Long-shot candidates include Joey Daccord, John Gibson, Dustin Wolf, and Anthony Stolarz.
Jacob Markstrom is Sweden’s starter on paper. But Linus Ullmark and Filip Gustavsson could outplay him before rosters are finalized.
Finland should have competition too, even though Juuse Saros is already on the roster. He’s coming off a subpar campaign in Nashville. Kevin Lankinen is in Year 1 of a five-year deal. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is just 26 and trending up.
Canada’s aging returnees face uncertain futures
Canada’s 2014 Sochi Olympics roster featured 25 players. More than a decade later, only seven still play in the NHL: Sidney Crosby, Drew Doughty, John Tavares, Jamie Benn, Corey Perry, Matt Duchene, and Jonathan Toews.
Alex Pietrangelo and Marc-Edouard Vlasic are technically active. Practically, both are retired.
Among the active seven, Crosby is already named to the 2026 team. Doughty is a strong contender. Tavares is a long shot. Benn, Perry, Duchene, and Toews aren’t on the radar.
What a difference 12 years makes.
Crosby, 38, remains the most consistently brilliant player of all time. He’s maintained a point per game or better in each of his 20 seasons. It’s safe to assume No. 87 will stay at least borderline elite heading to Milan.
But does Father Time catch up to Doughty, who turns 36 in December? Or Brad Marchand, 37?
Mark Stone, another Canadian hopeful, is 33 but has dealt with serious injuries. Will one, two, or all three fall off enough that they can’t crack Canada’s roster?
USA’s blue line features rising young stars
Canada, the U.S., and Sweden all have deep talent on defense. Each nation could claim the best defense corps in the tournament.
For the finest crop of up-and-coming defensemen, it’s USA all day.
General manager Bill Guerin has plenty of options. Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy were already named to the team. Jaccob Slavin and Zach Werenski are locks, barring injury.
Filling the final four blue-line spots won’t be easy. Brock Faber and Jake Sanderson – both 23 – have the inside track on two spots. Mid-career players Adam Fox, Noah Hanifin, and Seth Jones will compete as well.
From there, roughly a dozen dark-horse candidates could force management’s hand with exceptional play early in 2025-26.
Luke Hughes, Lane Hutson, Jackson LaCombe, and Alex Vlasic are all 21-24 years old. There’s a real chance one gets picked as the eighth defenseman.
Warning: USA will have an absolutely stacked blue line at the 2030 Olympics.
GM-player relationships create advantages and blind spots
Robert Thomas is a classic bubble player. The Blues forward deserves to play in a best-on-best tournament as an above-average first-line center in the NHL.
Yet he’s far from a slam-dunk pick for Canada. The group of managers has so many equivalent or better options.
No executive knows Thomas better than Canada GM Doug Armstrong. He scouted Thomas in 2016. He drafted the Aurora, Ontario, native 20th overall in 2017. He watched the cerebral two-way playmaker grow into an impact player.
This seems advantageous for Thomas. But sometimes special bias emerges from such closeness. The GM knows the player’s flaws and may be scarred by underwhelming performances.
St. Louis’ Binnington and Colton Parayko suited up for Canada at 4 Nations. Clearly Armstrong isn’t opposed to taking his own players.
The same logic applies to Team USA. Bill Guerin is also GM of the Wild. He knows Faber and Matt Boldy extremely well – the good and the bad.
Matthew Tkachuk’s recovery timeline creates uncertainty
Matthew Tkachuk missed the back half of the 2024-25 regular season after tearing his adductor muscle and suffering a sports hernia injury at 4 Nations. He returned for the playoffs and contributed 23 points in 23 games as the Panthers won their second consecutive Stanley Cup.
Tkachuk, one of the faces of American hockey, will be sidelined to start the coming season. He’s recovering from offseason surgery and likely won’t see action until at least December, Panthers GM Bill Zito said.
Tkachuk was one of USA’s original six selections. The agitating winger’s roster spot is secure.
It’s worth monitoring how he looks after the layoff. Do we see him at peak playmaking powers despite a short runway? Or does he still not seem like himself heading into the Olympics?
On paper, Tkachuk is a top-six presence for the United States. But he could get pushed down the lineup if somebody else has a stellar first half.
The USA has enviable depth at forward.
Finland needs Laine’s scoring punch
Finland’s projected roster shows a steep drop-off on defense after Miro Heiskanen. But that’s a nice group of forwards.
The question: Who’s going to score?
The Finns have plenty of silky passers and defensive maestros. Aleksander Barkov fits both descriptions. But their supply of snipers is limited.
Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, Roope Hintz, and Artturi Lehkonen were the only Finns to score 25 or more goals in the NHL last year. None reached 35.
Enter Patrik Laine, the enigmatic marksman from Tampere. The 27-year-old right-handed winger potted 20 goals, including 15 on the power play, in 52 games for the Canadiens in 2024-25.
That’s a 32-goal pace over a full season. His rocket shot can be a real weapon for Finland.
That said, Laine’s also a wild card who doesn’t always deliver on the hype.
John Matisz is theScore’s senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter/X (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).
