We’re officially less than one year away from the 2026 Winter Olympics and the return of NHL players to the biggest multi-sport event in the globe, which will do wonders for growing the game not only in Italy, but elsewhere around the world.
The 2026 Winter Olympics marks the sixth time that the National Hockey League will be sending their players to the Games, with plans in 2022 canceled due to the coronavirus and not being able to come to an agreement with the IIHF and IOC in 2018 on marketing rights, travel costs and insurance.
Last month, the National Hockey League did a fantastic job putting on the 4 Nations Face-Off, which served as a bit of an appetizer for the Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy.
Canada would go on to win the 4 Nations Face-Off by defeating the United States at TD Garden in Boston thanks to an overtime winner from Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid, who is set to play a massive role for his country in Italy next February.
Roster Predictions for 2026 Winter Olympics
We’re still 311 days away from the next Winter Olympics and a lot can change between now and then including injuries, international retirements, etc., but today, I wanted to share my roster predictions for each participating nation, including France, who would be Russia’s replacement, based on their performance/results at the Final Qualifying Tournament last year.
Before we get into the roster predictions, let’s take a look at the groups for Milano-Cortina 2026 with Russia and without the nine-time gold medalists, along with their current IIHF ranking.
Groups with Russia participating
- Group A: Canada (1), Sweden (7), Switzerland (5), Italy (20).
- Group B: Finland (3), Germany (8), Czechia (4), Denmark (11).
- Group C: Russia (2), United States (6), Slovakia (9), Latvia (10).
Groups without Russia participating
- Group A: Canada (1), Switzerland (5), Czechia (4), France (14).
- Group B: Finland (3), Sweden (7), Slovakia (9), Italy (20).
- Group C: United States (6), Germany (8), Latvia (10), Denmark (11).
With that said, it’s time to take a look at my roster predictions, which feature a total of 25 players per nation – 14 forward, 8 defensemen and 3 goaltenders.
Group A
Canada
- F: Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Mitch Marner, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor Bedard, Mark Scheifele, Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel, Mark Stone, Seth Jarvis, Nick Suzuki, Travis Konecny, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart.
- D: Cale Makar, Josh Morrissey, Devon Toews, Shea Theodore, Thomas Harley, Noah Dobson, Colton Parayko, MacKenzie Weegar.
- G: Logan Thompson, Jordan Binnington, MacKenzie Blackwood.
Switzerland
- F: Kevin Fiala, Nico Hischier, Nino Niederreiter, Philipp Kurashev, Pius Suter, Timo Meier, Dario Simon, Sven Andrighetto, Gaetan Haas, Calvin Thurkauf, Andrea Glauser, Denis Malgin, Christoph Bertschy, Gregory Hofmann.
- D: Roman Josi, Jonas Siegenthaler, Dean Kukan, JJ Moser, Christian Marti, Lian Bichsel*, Dominik Egli, Romain Loeffel.
- G: Akira Schmid, Leonardo Genoni, Reto Berra.
*- currently suspended by federation for declining World Junior invite.
Sweden
- F: Elias Pettersson, Mika Zibanejad, Adrian Kempe, Joel Eriksson Ek, Leo Carlsson, Lucas Raymond, Filip Forsberg, William Karlsson, William Nylander, Jesper Bratt, William Eklund, Elias Lindholm, Gustav Nyqvist, Rickard Rakell.
- D: Victor Hedman, Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Andersson, Jonas Brodin, Erik Karlsson, Philip Broberg, Gustav Forsling, Simon Edvinsson.
- G: Jacob Markstrom, Linus Ullmark, Filip Gustavsson.
Italy
- F: Luca Frigo, Daniel Frank, Daniel Catenacci, Tommy Purdeller, Tommaso De Luca, Diego Kostner, Ivan Deluca, Marco Zanetti, Alex Petan, Giovani Morini, Giordano Finoro, Anthony Salinitri, Daniel Gellon, Daniel Mantenuto.
- D: Thomas Larkin, Alex Trivellato, Daniel Glira, Greg DiTomaso, Luca Zanatta, Phil Pietroniro, Lorenzo Casetti, Gregorio Gios.
- G: Damian Clara, Andreas Bernard, Davide Fadani.
Group B
Finland
- F: Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, Patrik Laine, Aleksander Barkov, Anton Lundell, Mikael Granlund, Roope Hintz, Artturi Lehkonen, Erik Haula, Eetu Luostarinen, Kaapo Kakko, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Joel Armia, Eeli Tolvanen.
- D: Miro Heiskanen, Henri Jokiharju, Esa Lindell, Niko Mikkola, Rasmus Ristolainen, Juuso Valimaki, Olli Maatta, Nikolas Mantipilo.
- G: Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen, Kevin Lankinen, Juuse Saros.
Germany
- F: Tim Stutzle, Leon Draisaitl, JJ Peterka, Lukas Reichel, Yasin Ehliz, Dominik Kahun, Marc Michaelis, Nico Sturm, Frederik Tiffels, Alexander Ehl, Tobias Eder, Daniel Fischbuch, Tom Kuhnackl, Leonhard Pfoederl.
- D: Moritz Seider, Moritz Muller, Kai Wissmann, Maksymilian Szuber, Jonas Muller, Leon Gawanke, Jonas Muller, Fabio Wagner.
- G: Philipp Grubauer, Mathias Neiderberger, Tobias Ancicka.
Czechia
- F: David Pastrnak, Martin Necas, Pavel Zacha, Ondrej Palat, David Kampf, Dominik Kubalik, Ondrej Kase, Radek Faksa, Roman Cervenka, Jakub Lauko, Jiri Kulich, Filip Zadina, Tomas Hertl, Filip Chytil.
- D: Filip Hronek, Radko Gudas, Jan Ruuta, David Jiricek, Libor Hajek, David Spacek, Jakub Zboril, Michal Kempny.
- G: Lukas Dostal, Petr Mrazek, Karel Vejmelka.
Denmark
- F: Nikolaj Ehlers, Lars Eller, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Mikkel Aagaard, Joachim Blichfeld, Alexander True, Oscar Fisker Molgaard, Jonas Rondbjerg, Nicklas Jensen, Frederik Storm, Patrick Russell, Oliver Kjaer, Christian Wejse, Mathias From.
- D: Oliver Lauridsen, Kasper Larsen, Jesper Jensen Aabo, Nicholas B Jensen, Markus Lauridsen, Anders Koch, Matias Lassen, Philip Bruggisser.
- G: Frederik Andersen, Mads Sogaard, Frederik Dichow.
Group C
Russia
- F: Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Matvei Michkov, Ivan Demidov, Kirill Kaprizov, Ivan Barbashev, Nikita Gusev, Andrei Svechnikov, Nikita Kucherov, Artemi Panarin, Pavel Buchnevich, Valeri Nichushkin, Kirill Marchenko, Dmitri Voronkov.
- D: Dmitri Orlov, Mikhail Sergachev, Alexander Nikishin, Alexander Romanov, Ivan Provorov, Pavel Mintyukov, Vladislav Gavrikov, Artem Zub.
- G: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ilya Sorokin, Igor Shesterkin.
United States
- F: Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, Matthew Tkachuk, Dylan Larkin, Matt Boldy, Jack Eichel, Jake Guentzel, J.T. Miller, Clayton Keller, Cole Caufield, Jason Robertson, Tage Thompson, Jack Hughes, Kyle Connor.
- D: Quinn Hughes, Adam Fox, Jaccob Slavin, Zach Werenski, Charlie McAvoy, Brock Faber, Noah Hanifin, Jake Sanderson.
- G: Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, Jeremy Swayman.
Slovakia
- F: Juraj Slafkovsky, Dalibor Dvorsky, Tomas Tatar, Martin Pospisil, Pavol Regenda, Marek Hrvik, Libor Hudacek, Adam Liska, Adam Sykora, Milos Keleman, Filip Mesar, Robert Lantosi, Lukas Cingel, Peter Cehlarik.
- D: Simon Nemec, Erik Cernak, Martin Fehervary, Samuel Knazko, Patrik Koch, Martin Gernat, Michal Ivan, Peter Ceresnak.
- G: Samuel Hlavaj, Patrik Rybar, Adam Huska.
Latvia
- F: Teddy Blueger, Rodrigo Abols, Rihard Bukarts, Zemgus Girgensons, Kaspars Daugavins, Dans Locmelis, Martins Dzierkals, Oskars Batna, Raivis Ansons, Roberts Bukarts, Sandis Vilmanis, Ralfs Bergmanis, Miks Indrasis, Eduards Tralmarks, Rudolfs Balcers.
- D: Kristian Rubins, Uvis Balinskis, Niks Fenenko, Janis Jaks, Ralfs Freibergs, Kristaps Zile, Roberts Mamcics, Markuss Komuls.
- G: Elvis Merzlikins, Arturs Silovs, Kristers Gudlevskis.
Russia’s potential replacement
France
- F: Alexandre Texier, Stephan Da Costa, Tim Bozon, Pierre-Edouard Bellmare, Sacha Treille, Pierrick Dube, Charles Bertrand, Justin Addamo, Anthony Rech, Louis Boudon, Benjamin Bougro, Jordann Perret, Valentin Claireaux, Dylan Fabre.
- D: Hugo Gallet, Yohan Auvitu, Thomas Thiry, Enzo Guebey, Nicolas Ritz, Enzo Cantagallo, Florian Chakiachvili, Jules Boscq.
- G: Antoine Keller, Julian Junca, Quentin Papillon.
Next month, the majority of these players will have their final opportunity to impress their national hockey federation and respective coaching staffs for a spot on the Olympic roster at the 2025 IIHF World Hockey Championship, which will get underway on Friday, May 9th in Herning, Denmark and Stockholm, Sweden.
Stay tuned for full coverage of the 2025 IIHF World Hockey Championship including a full preview and daily recaps.