The 2026 Winter Olympic Games are six months away. The world’s top hockey players will converge on Milano Cortiva, including the NHL’s best. Coming off the success of the 4 Nations Face Off, Canada aims to add another gold medal to their international trophy case.
As the games inch closer, Canada has taken the next step in finalizing the group of players they will bring to Italy. Hockey Canada released the roster for their orientation camp. The group includes 42 NHL players, and they will widdle this group down to 25 players for the final roster.
The first five slots are already cemented for Team Canada, as they named Crosby, McDavid, MacKinnon, Point and Reinhart in the announcement of the initial six team members. That leaves eight more slots to get to 14 total forwards on the roster.
Most of this remaining roster was part of the 4 Nations Face Off roster, with two notable additions. Third-year star Connor Bedard should get a spot on this team to play the third-line center position. Similarly, Macklin Celebrini's rookie season was so impressive that he's carved out the opportunity to represent his country at age 19.
Makar is the only defenseman already named to the roster, leaving likely six spaces available to fill out. Canada isn’t short of options. Rather, it's a test of finding the right blend of defenders that can both move the puck and insulate their goaltending. They will likely carry eight defensemen to the tournament, and the rest of that group might look like this.
Similar to the forward group, there’s just some slight change from their 4 Nations Face Off roster I’m anticipating. Travis Sanheim was on the squad in the earlier tournament, but anticipate those players to be swapped with Edmonton Oilers' puck-mover Evan Bouchard. Dallas Stars' Thomas Harley, who was an injury replacement at the 4 Nations Face Off, earns an outright bid to the team for the Olympic Games.
The winning trio returns for the 2026 games, led by Stanley Cup winner and 4 Nations Face Off starter Jordan Binnington. Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault add some depth
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Jacob is a featured writer covering the Pittsburgh Steelers for Steelers On SI and the NHL for Breakaway On SI. He also co-hosts the All Steelers Talk podcast. Previous work covering the NHL for Inside the Penguins and The Hockey News.
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