Hockey Canada announced its men’s Olympic roster for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games on Wednesday.
The team is nearly identical to the squad that captured the 4 Nations Face-Off championship in February. A handful of new additions round out the group.
Canada can still make changes if injuries occur before the tournament.
Forwards
Nick Suzuki, Macklin Celebrini, Bo Horvat, and Tom Wilson weren’t on the 4 Nations roster.
Celebrini, 19, earned his spot with 60 points in his sophomore season. He trails only Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon in the NHL’s scoring race.
Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard is perhaps the most notable omission. He racked up 44 points in 31 games before an upper-body injury sidelined him in mid-December.
However, Canada general manager Doug Armstrong said the issue wasn’t a deciding factor in Bedard missing the cut.
The 4 Nations forwards who aren’t returning are Sam Bennett, Seth Jarvis, and Travis Konecny. Bennett has won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Florida Panthers and captured the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP this past spring.
Defensemen
Canada’s defensive corps is the same unit that won the 4 Nations.
Cale Makar was one of the first six skaters named to the team over the summer. He’s in the driver’s seat to win the Norris Trophy for the third time in seven seasons.
Drew Doughty is the only Canadian defenseman with Olympic experience. He captured gold medals in 2010 and 2014 and has also won at the international level at the world juniors, World Cup, and 4 Nations.
New York Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer was speculated to be in the mix as an 18-year-old but missed out amid his dominant debut campaign.
“He’s a fantastic talent, he brings you out of your seat every night. He’s got maturity beyond his years on and off the ice.”
Armstrong said of Schaefer.
Goaltenders
Jordan Binnington is the lone returnee after backstopping Canada to its 4 Nations title. He has a longstanding relationship with Armstrong and a Stanley Cup on his resume but has the worst stats of Canada’s goaltending trio this season.
The St. Louis Blues netminder has an .870 save percentage and seven wins in 23 appearances this season.
Devon Thompson, a surprising snub from the 4 Nations roster, owns a .915 clip in 2024-25 after finishing fourth in Vezina Trophy voting last year.
Darcy Kuemper is coming off an injury but has posted a .917 save percentage when healthy.
Samuel Montembeault and Adin Hill were on the 4 Nations roster but didn’t get any playing time.
The Olympics begin February 6 in Milan Cortina. Canada will look to reclaim Olympic gold after finishing without a medal in 2018 and 2022.
