However, with the deadline on Dec. 31, there is still time to speculate, and today, we’re projecting Team Canada, which won gold in 2014, the last Olympics to carry NHL players.
Not to mention, Canada was also crowned champions in last year’s 4 Nations Face-off, defeating Team USA, whose roster was projected earlier in the week.
The Canadians are in somewhat of a youth movement, with youngsters Nick Suzuki (26 years old), Seth Jarvis (23), Connor Bedard (20), Macklin Celebrini (19), Thomas Harley (24), and Matthew Schaefer (18) all looking to crack this Olympic roster.
It speaks to their strides this season and their emergence as high-end talent that we’re picking them to represent Canada on the international stage. They’re all likely to have a long and productive Team Canada career, and it starts with the upcoming Olympics.
During Canada’s Olympic orientation in August, coach Jon Cooper said, “when the Ferrari got invented, did they stop making the Ferrari, or did they improve the model? That’s what we’re in charge of doing, improving the Ferrari.”
How Will Team Canada ‘Take The Ferrari And Make It Better?’
Team Canada coach Jon Cooper is a proven winner on the international and NHL stages.
Here is the projected roster for Team Canada at the 2026 Olympics in Milan.
Centers: Connor McDavid*, Nathan MacKinnon*, Sidney Crosby*, Mark Scheifele
Wingers: Brayden Point*, Brandon Hagel, Sam Reinhart*, Mitch Marner, Macklin Celebrini, Connor Bedard, Mark Stone, Seth Jarvis, Brad Marchand, Nick Suzuki
The Lowdown: The Canadian team is fortunate to have two of the best centers on the planet in Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid and Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon.
Close behind are Pittsburgh Penguins icon Crosby and Winnipeg Jets star Mark Scheifele, who are both having terrific years. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a deeper, more talented group of centers than that.
We left off Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett and Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli, who were on the 4 Nations roster. Washington Capitals right winger Tom Wilson was also left off our Canadian squad.
While he’s picked it up lately, Bennett had a subpar start to this season. In his first 20 appearances, he had only registered four goals and three assists.
Three NHL Forwards Who May Have Played Their Way Off Team Canada
While there is an argument for several players to make Team Canada, other players from last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster will need to be cut to make that room. Who are those players?
Wilson has established himself as a physical power forward who is known to throw heavy hits and is more than happy to drop the gloves when asked. However, at the Olympics, the rules are different and physical play isn’t as tolerated as it is in the NHL.
With that said, if we’re going with someone who plays a gritty, nasty game, we’re going to pick Panthers left winger Brad Marchand over Wilson.
Marchand is tough to play against, and he’s a proven winner. Marchand will do whatever’s asked of him, and if that means scoring some timely goals, you shouldn’t bet against him.
But all things considered, we’ve built a group of Canada’s forwards that has speed and skill to spare. And they won’t be pushed around by anybody.
Cale Makar*, Devon Toews, Josh Morrissey, Shea Theodore, Thomas Harley, Travis Sanheim, Colton Parayko, Matthew Schaefer
The Lowdown: We still think the American projected group of defensemen is the pick of the Olympic litter – at least, on paper. But that’s not a slight against the eight D-men we’ve picked for Canada.
Canada has the defenseman who many believe is the best blueliner in the NHL, in Colorado’s Cale Makar. The Canadians also have Makar’s partner in Denver in Devon Toews.
With that, they’ve got legitimate stars in other markets, as Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey, Vegas Golden Knights’ Shea Theodore, Philadelphia Flyers’ Travis Sanheim, and New York Islanders’ Matthew Schaefer.
We did leave off Los Angeles Kings veteran Drew Doughty and Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard from this roster. Droughty is now 35, and Bouchard’s all-around game leaves something to be desired.
So we feel like we’ve got a solid mix of young and old with this defense corps. These are all first-time Olympians and could remain Olympians for the foreseeable future.
Jordan Binnington, Mackenzie Blackwood, Logan Thompson
The Lowdown: Firstly, Binnington earned the right to be on this Olympic team with a gutsy, first-place finish at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Even if he’s not having a great season with the St. Louis Blues, that could be said about nearly the entire Blues roster. Binnington’s numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.
However, we’re not suggesting Binnington should automatically get the starter’s job for the Olympic team. If he does continue to struggle near the start of the tournament, he should be challenged by the Avalanche’s Blackwood and the Capitals’ Logan Thompson.
NHL Vezina Trophy Rankings: Hellebuyck’s Injury Changes The Race
Connor Hellebuyck’s injury threatens his chance of winning three straight Vezina Trophies. But youngsters Spencer Knight and Yaroslav Askarov have been excellent early on.
Blackwood and Thompson are having fantastic seasons, and in the cutthroat world of elite-level netminding, we believe you go with the hot hand until the hand stops being hot. In addition to Blackwood, his tandem partner, Scott Wedgewood, wouldn’t be a terrible pick either.
The two goalies we’ve left off our list are Golden Knights starter Adin Hill and Montreal Canadiens goalie Samuel Montembeault. Hill – who hasn’t played since Oct. 20 with an injury – and Montembeault’s numbers this year are not encouraging and don’t compare well to Thompson and Blackwood.
If Binnington starts the first game and doesn’t have a great showing, Canada can instantly go to the other goalies in the dugout.
Canada’s got solid depth in net, and if Binnington or anyone else plays as well as Binnington did at the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Canadians will be extremely tough to beat.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
