7 former Edmonton Oilers players competing at 2026 Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan arrive in a little over a month, and there will be no shortage of Edmonton Oilers content.
A total of three members of the Oilers organization will compete at the 2026 Olympics. Connor McDavid will headline Team Canada, while Leon Draisaitl and Josh Samanski will suit up for Germany.
Those won’t be the only names that Edmonton fans will recognize on the ice throughout the tournament. There is a bevy of former Oilers who have also cracked their respective national team squads that will surely ring a bell among the Edmonton faithful.
Here is a full list of every former Oilers player who is confirmed to be competing at the Olympics next month…
1. David Tomasek, Czechia
The most prominent former Oiler competing in Italy will be forward David Tomasek, who has made the cut for Czechia’s Olympic squad.
He will be fresh in the minds of Oilers fans as he was on the NHL roster just a few weeks ago. Edmonton had brought the 29-year-old to North America this season after inking him to a one-year deal last year, following a standout season in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).
Things did not go well for Tomasek in Edmonton, notching three goals and five points in 22 games while being a regular healthy scratch. Edmonton opted to terminate his Oilers contract, and Tomasek has since returned to the SHL.
2. Yohann Auvitu, France
There will be a unique Oilers flair to France’s blueline at the Olympics.
Former Oilers rearguard Yohann Auvitu will be suiting up for his native France next month. He last played in the NHL with the Oilers back during the 2017-18 season, recording three goals and nine points in 33 games.
The 36-year-old Auvitu was born in Ivry-sur-Seine, France, and has been a true world-traveller throughout his career. Apart from the NHL, Auvitu has had stints in Finland, Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, Czechia, and, most recently, Austria.
3. Philip Broberg, Sweden
Not only is Philip Broberg a former Oilers player heading to the Olympics, but he also bumped a current Oilers defenceman off the Swedish roster.
The 24-year-old former first-round pick was a surprise pick for the Swedes’ roster, and he made it in favour of veteran defender Mattias Ekholm. Oilers fans will have some mixed feelings on Broberg, who left the team by signing an offer sheet with the St. Louis Blues in the summer of 2024.
4. Dominik Kahun, Germany
Outside of Canada, a lot of Oilers fans will be keeping an eye on the German Olympic squad.
Draisaitl and Samanski will be the obvious players to look for, but Germany has a few former Oilers skating on the team as well, including Dominik Kahun.
The 30-year-old Kahun had a three-year run in the NHL between the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons. The last of which came with the Oilers, where he had a disappointing nine goals and 15 points through 48 games.
Kahun left the NHL after that season and has been playing in Switzerland ever since.
5. Tobias Rieder, Germany
The other former Oiler playing for Germany has a bit of an infamous past with the organization.
Tobias Rieder was drafted by the Oilers back in 2011, but was traded before he ever played a game in the organization. He made his NHL debut with the Arizona Coyotes and then had a single season with the LA Kings before finding his way back to the Alberta capital.
The 32-year-old Rieder played exactly one season with the Oilers in 2018-19, where he scored zero goals and 11 points through 67 games. Bob Nicholson, then OEG CEO, publicly criticized Rieder in the middle of the season, saying that if the German had scored 12-14 goals, the Oilers probably wouldn’t have missed the playoffs.
6. Patrick Russell, Denmark
Perhaps the most obscure former Oiler suiting up for the Olympics is Patrick Russell, who will represent Denmark at the tournament.
The undrafted Danish forward spent five seasons with the Oilers organization between 2016-17 and 2020-21. During that time, he appeared in 59 NHL games, failing to record a single goal and notching seven assists along the way.
After his time in North America, Russell played four seasons in the SHL and is currently with the Cologne Sharks of Germany’s DEL.
7. Martin Marincin, Slovakia
The last former Oiler to be added to an Olympic team is defenceman Martin Marinicin.
The 33-year-old Slovakian defenceman was drafted by Edmonton way back in 2010 and spent the first four years of his professional career with the Oilers organization. The majority of his time was spent in the AHL with the Oklahoma City Barons.
Marincin did, however, appear in 85 games with Edmonton between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. During that span, he put up a goal and 12 points before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He left the NHL after the 2020-21 season and has been playing in the Czech league ever since.