Olympic men's hockey roster predictions: Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland, Czechia
NHL players are headed to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, marking the first time since 2014 that we have seen the best players on the planet compete for a gold medal.
There are 12 teams competing in the men’s hockey tournament, but five countries are especially loaded with NHL talent: Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland, and Czechia.
Here are some roster predictions.
Team Canada roster prediction
Expect many players from Canada’s 4 Nations roster to suit up, but there are a bunch of difficult decisions that lie ahead.
Will young stars like Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini make the team? After being snubbed at 4 Nations, will Mark Scheifele and Nick Suzuki earn spots? Tom Wilson is a polarizing player, as are all of their goalies.
How about Sam Bennett? He was a key contributor for Canada at 4 Nations and played a big role in the Florida Panthers’ back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, but based on recent form, there may not be a spot for him on this team.
Marchand – McDavid – Marner
Crosby – MacKinnon – Reinhart
Celebrini – Scheifele – Bedard
Hagel – Cirelli – Point
Wilson – Suzuki
Toews – Makar
Theodore – Morrissey
Harley – Doughty
Sanheim – Parayko
Thompson
Binnington
Kuemper
Players we snubbed
- Mark Stone
- Seth Jarvis
- Sam Bennett
- Travis Konecny
- Wyatt Johnston
- John Tavares
- Robert Thomas
- Mat Barzal
- Bo Horvat
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
- Evan Bouchard
- Matthew Schaefer
- Noah Dobson
- Jakob Chychrun
- Brandon Montour
- Adin Hill
- MacKenzie Blackwood
- Scott Wedgewood
- Tristan Jarry
Team USA roster prediction
Much like Canada, you could make a second USA roster that would be one of the more talented teams in this event. Tough decisions will need to be made, which is evident by the impressive list of players we had to snub, like Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson.
B. Tkachuk – Matthews – M. Tkachuk
Guentzel – Eichel – J. Hughes
Robertson – Thompson – Boldy
Knies – Larkin – Tuch
Connor – Keller
Q. Hughes – McAvoy
Werenski – Sanderson
Slavin – Fox
Faber – Hanifin
Hellebuyck
Oettinger
Swayman
Players we snubbed
- Cole Caufield
- J.T. Miller
- Logan Cooley
- Nick Schmaltz
- Alex DeBrincat
- Cutter Gauthier
- Trevor Zegras
- Chris Kreider
- Brock Nelson
- Vincent Trocheck
- Lane Hutson
- Luke Hughes
- Seth Jones
- Jackson Lacombe
- Neal Pionk
- Ryan McDonagh
- Thatcher Demko
- Joey Daccord
Team Sweden roster prediction
Sweden will have a big chip on its shoulder after a rather disappointing showing at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Centre-ice depth could be an issue, but this team has a ton of talent on the wings and back end, and could very well wind up winning gold.
Bratt – Pettersson – Nylander
Kempe – Carlsson – Raymond
Forsberg – Zibanejad – Rakell
Johansson – Eriksson Ek – Landeskog
E. Lindholm – Burakovsky
Dahlin – Brodin
Hedman – Andersson
Forsling – Karlsson
Ekholm – H. Lindholm
Gustavsson
Ullmark
Markstrom
Players we snubbed
- William Eklund
- William Karlsson
- Emil Heineman
- Victor Olofsson
- Mikael Backlund
- Gustav Nyquist
- Viktor Arvidsson
- Marcus Pettersson
- Philip Broberg
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
- Jesper Wallstedt
Team Finland roster prediction
Finland is always a pesky group that you never want to overlook in these best-on-best tournaments. Unfortunately, they won’t be bringing their best roster, as their best all-around player, Aleksander Barkov, will be unavailable due to injury, as will Patrik Laine.
Lehkonen – Hintz – Rantanen
Granlund – Aho – Teravainen
Luostarinen – Lundell – Tolvanen
Kiviranta – Haula – Armia
Kakko – O. Kapanen
Lindell – Heiskanen
Mikkola – Ristolainen
Maatta – Jokiharju
Vaakanainen – Matinpalo
Saros
Lankinen
Luukkonen
Players we snubbed
- Matias Maccelli
- Jesperi Kotkaniemi
- Kasperi Kapanen
- Aatu Raty
- Juuso Parssinen
- Ville Koivunen
- Juuso Valimaki
- Joonas Korpisalo
- Justus Annunen
- Leevi Merilainen
- Ville Husso
Team Czechia roster prediction
After being left out of the 4 Nations tournament, the Czechs should be motivated to prove they belong with the elite hockey countries of the world.
Czechia isn’t nearly as deep as the rosters above, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be an easy out. They have one of the game’s best talents, David Pastrnak, and a solid supporting cast up front, including Martin Necas, Tomas Hertl, and Pavel Zacha.
Cervenka – Hertl – Pastrnak
Palat – Zacha – Necas
Kubalik – Kulich – Tomasek
Kampf – Faksa – Klapka
Kase – Sedlak
Hajek – Hronek
Kempny – Gudas
Rutta – Jiricek
Spacek – Krejcik
Dostal
Vladar
Vejmelka
Players we snubbed
- Filip Chytil
- Jakub Flek
- Tomas Nosek
- Jakub Vrana
- Ivan Ivan
- Radim Simek
- Petr Mrazek
- David Rittich
- Jakub Dobes
- Vitek Vanecek