The 2026 Olympics have begun with men’s hockey kicking off the preliminary round on Wednesday. The NHL is back in the Olympics after not taking part in the last 12 years. One notable country is not taking part, though. Russia has been banned from international play since 2022 due to its invasion of Ukraine. Russia not being part of the Olympics means some of the NHL’s best players will not be taking part. This has raised the question, if Russia were able to take part what would their 2026 roster look like? Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic spoke with Igor Larionov and he told them who he would have picked.
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Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lightning
Evgeni Malkin – Pittsburgh Penguins
Kirill Kaprizov – Minnesota Wild
Pavel Buchnevich – St. Louis Blues
Artemi Panarin – Los Angeles Kings
Kirill Marchenko – Columbus Blue Jackets
Alex Ovechkin – Washington Capitals
Vladislav Namestnikov – Winnipeg Jets
Ivan Demidov – Montreal Canadiens
Vasily Podkolzin – Edmonton Oilers
Fedor Svechkov – Nashville Predators
Ivan Barbashev – Vegas Golden Knights
Extras:
Andrei Svechnikov – Carolina Hurricanes
Ilya Mikheyev – Chicago Blackhawks
The forwards aside from the extras account for 524 points this season on 195 goals and 329 assists. It’s a very talented group that may even be one of the best that will be taking part in Italy. The intriguing part is Svechnikov only being an extra, the hot stretch he’s been on as of late you’d have to wonder if that would have changed things a little. Many have mentioned what will Canada do with their lines and who matches up with who, well Russia could have a first line of Ovechkin, Malkin, and Kucherov which would’ve been lethal in the Olympic tournament.
Mikhail Sergachev – Utah Mammoth
Alexander Nikishin – Carolina Hurricanes
Vladislav Gavrikov – New York Rangers
Artem Zub – Ottawa Senators
Nikita Zadorov – Boston Bruins
Dmitry Orlov – San Jose Sharks
Extras:
Ilya Lybushkin – Dallas Stars
Ivan Provorov – Columbus Blue Jackets
Another very talented group, and the fact that Lybushkin and Provorov would be extras shows how much talent Russia has playing in the NHL.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay Lightning
Igor Shesterkin – New York Rangers
Extra:
Sergei Bobrovsky – Florida Panthers
This is such a talented group. It’s leaving off Ilya Sorokin who is currently the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy this season. Sorokin would have likely still been going to the Olympics with Shesterkin injured. Russia had it been at this year’s Olympics would have one of if not the best goalie options in the tournament.
The Russian team is so talented and the team that Larionov said he would have picked would have come home with a medal. But where we are at they aren’t and some of the best names are missing this tournament which begins Wednesday with Finland facing Slovakia in the morning then Sweden and Italy face off that afternoon.
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