The tension is palpable. The puck will soon drop for best-on-best international hockey action featuring NHL talent when the men’s tournament at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics launches Feb. 11.
How will the 12-team field fare across Groups A, B and C? Which nations will take gold, silver and bronze? Which player will be the hero?
It’s time for Daily Faceoff’s staff predictions.
Our panel:
Matt Larkin, DFO managing editor & senior writer
Steven Ellis, DFO associate editor & prospect analyst
Scott Maxwell, DFO editor & writer
Jeff Marek, host of The Sheet podcast & co-host of The DFO Rundown podcast
Brock Seguin, DFO managing fantasy editor
Jason Gregor, co-host of The DFO Rundown podcast
Tyler Yaremchuk, host & senior producer of The Nation Network
Anthony Di Marco, DFO contributing writer
Paul Pidutti, founder of Adjusted Hockey & DFO feature writer
Jonny Lazarus, DFO digital reporter & co-host of Morning Cuppa Hockey
Mike Gould, Writer for DFO and Flames Nation
Anthony Trudeau, DFO columnist
The predictions:
Canada taking Group A is an easy consensus call, as is France finishing last, but the group is split 6-6 between Czechia and Switzerland for the second spot. Losing Pavel Zacha hurts, but the Czechs have plenty of firepower fuelled by David Pastrnak and Roman Cervenka. The Swiss appear stronger on defense, however, led by the likes of Roman Josi, J.J. Moser and Jonas Siegenthaler.
The picks vary a bit more in Group B. A small band of prognosticators believes Finland can overcome the loss of captain and top center Aleksander Barkov and best Sweden for first, whereas one voter feels otherwise and has Slovakia finishing ahead of the shorthanded Suomi. No one expects host Italy to win a game.
Team USA has Group C locked down, but there’s arguably no easy out among this foursome top to bottom, which is why we see a lot of voter variation among the star-studded but top-heavy Germany, speedy Denmark and defense-first Latvia.
As for the podium predictions: it appears USA missed its shot at the 4 Nations. Having overthought their roster selection, the Americans bring a stagnant group year over year, whereas the Canadians look slightly stronger, having smartened up with their goalie picks and added ascendant talent Macklin Celebrini. All but one ballot has Canada winning the gold.
A glance at the MVP picks:
Matt Larkin: Cale Makar
Steven Ellis: Nathan MacKinnon
Scott Maxwell: Macklin Celebrini
Jeff Marek: Nathan MacKinnon
Brock Seguin: Connor McDavid
Jason Gregor: Connor McDavid
Tyler Yaremchuk: Connor McDavid
Anthony Di Marco: Cale Makar
Paul Pidutti: Connor McDavid
Jonny Lazarus: Sidney Crosby
Mike Gould: Sidney Crosby
Anthony Trudeau: Juuse Saros
The fact five different Canadians were picked to win MVP says a lot about the nation’s star power; from Cale Makar to Connor McDavid to Nathan MacKinnon to Sidney Crosby, the defending 4 Nations champs have so many players who can dictate a game.
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