With the news dropping that NHL players are officially returning to the Olympics in 2026 and 2030, the question on everyone’s mind now turns to which NHL players will represent their teams in Milano and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
While the games are still (almost exactly) two years away, that doesn’t mean we can’t speculate on who will be chosen and immediately get into heated arguments about why the players one person chose has no chance in making it, while your picks are the absolute, slam dunk, 100% ones that will be there.
In that vein, let’s take a look at which Oilers could potentially be booking plane tickets to Italy and so should probably start looking on Expedia right away here.
For sure lock ins
Connor McDavid, Team Canada
Do I really have to put anything more? *looks at editor* *editor looks back and shrugs*
Ok fine, Connor McDavid is the best player in the world, ipso facto he will play in the Olympics. He is likely going to be the first line centre, and the real question becomes whether or not he and Sidney Crosby will play together to fulfill every Canadian’s Olympic dream.
Leon Draisaitl, Team Germany
Like McDavid, the undisputed best player from Germany, both presently and all time, given that Leon Draisaitl is the all time leading goal, assist, and point scorer for the country, will be on the national team; although he is only third in shorthanded goals, one place behind former Oiler Jochen Hecht and one above former Oiler Tobias Rieder—yes he has in fact scored a goal before.
But it doesn’t matter that it is Team Germany. Draisaitl would make it on every single other squad as well, given he is considered a top five player in the world currently.
Mattias Ekholm, Team Sweden
This will be Mattias Ekholm’s first real shot at the Olympics, as in 2014 he was in his rookie season and for a powerhouse like Sweden, they weren’t exactly hurting for players.
Now, Ekholm is a grizzled veteran, having played the fifth most games of all active Swedish defencemen in the NHL.
Since coming to Edmonton, Ekholm has taken his game to another level, but also is getting much more attention than he did in Nashville. That attention is probably pretty helpful to making the team in and of itself.
Sweden does boast a very good blueline though, and so there is a question of where he will play in the lineup.
Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson, Jonas Brodin, and Rasmus Dahlin figure to be ahead of Ekholm on the depth chart, so it would appear he would be anchoring the third pair.
Adam Larsson, Hampus Lindholm, Erik Gustafsson, and *shudders* Rasmus Andersson all figure to be fighting to make the team as well, but likely won’t be in a position to knock Ekholm out.
Stuart Skinner, Team Canada
Now this is one that I am sure I will get a lot of flack for putting as a lock. But if you look at just how thin Canada is in goal, I am very confident Stuart Skinner will be one of the three goalies.
That is especially the case now that Carter Hart, who was looking to potentially be the starter, is almost certainly not going to play, given the recent charges against him and the fact the trial is not expected to start until 2026.
Skinner had a rough start this season, but seems to have turned it around and then some. Pair that with his great rookie season last year and the fact that he will be only 27 at the time of the games, means that he will be in his prime. Further, he will be playing for an Oilers team that will (hopefully) be a contender up to the games, and that always helps increase ones pedigree.
Out of all active Canadian goalies, Skinner ranks sixth in career GAA and seventh in save percentage.
So who is Skinner’s competition?
Right now, the best Canadian goalies are probably (in addition to Skinner) Adin Hill, Logan Thompson, Marc-Andre Fleury, Jordan Binnington, Darcy Kuemper, and Tristan Jarry.
Fleury is going to be 41-years-old by the time these games roll around, and is almost certainly going to be retired by that point.
Jarry is probably the only one who has a more solid shot at being on the team than Skinner. He will be 30-years-old at the time of the games, and has been the starter in the Pittsburgh Penguins net for the past four and a half years, never having a save percentage below 0.909. Not great, but passable and credit for consistency.
Arguably only one of Hill and Thompson would make the team, given they both play for Vegas and one would end up being the starter over the other. Right now, Thompson has played almost twice the amount of games, but that is due to Hill being injured rather than performance.
Binnington had a rough couple of years and fell off a bit, although he has seemed to regain his form this year. Kuemper likewise has fallen off this year and lost the starting job with the Washington Capitals. They will be 32 and 35 respectively, and so it is a question of whether they will continue their previous play or continue to fall.
Lots can happen over two years, of course. You have up and comers like Devon Levi, Joel Hofer, and Sam Montembeault, veterans Cam Talbot, Martin Jones, and Jake Allen, and potential late bloomers/surprises in Mackenzie Blackwood and Connor Ingram.
Basically, Team Canada’s goaltending is pretty suspect, to be generous, and so if Skinner continues to be the starter for a contending team and putting up decent stats, it would be difficult to see him being left off.
Good chances of making a team
Zach Hyman, Team Canada
Zach Hyman’s season this year has brought him into the conversation of wearing a different kind of Maple Leaf in 2026, as he continues to improve since signing with the Oilers.
Sure, that conversation inevitably includes a “the Kunitz to McDavid’s Crosby” quip, which is maybe not entirely incorrect. But it really shouldn’t be looked upon as a slight upon Hyman in any event.
Team Canada has been known to look for pre-existing lines and pairings in order to maximize chemistry given the short nature of international tournaments. The entire 2016 World Cup defence core was from NHL pairings: Jake Muzzin-Drew Doughty, Jay Bouwmeester-Alex Pietrangelo, and Brent Burns-Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
That doesn’t mean that by virtue of being linemates that a lesser player makes it over potentially more deserving players. I don’t think anyone thinks picking Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron was an issue, or Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Granted, it does tend to lean more towards defensive pairings than forwards.
But Hyman has merit to making the team. He is third in goal among Canadian forwards this year and 11th in points. Last year he was 10th and eighth in both categories. Again, there is the argument of how much playing with McDavid has an effect on that, but at the same time that again just points to being in Hyman’s favour.
As long as Hyman keeps producing with McDavid, he has a very good chance to make the team. But with Canada’s depth, it’s never a sure thing, so I can’t quite put him as a lock. If the Olympics were next year? Sure. But lots can change in two years.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Team Canada
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is in a somewhat similar position as Hyman, in that if he continues to play on McDavid’s wing, he could have a shot if Team Canada wants to keep a whole line together.
Nuge also has his own foot to stand on, though. He is versatile in that he can play any forward position, he can play anywhere from a first-line to fourth-line role, and he can play PK while also being a PP weapon.
Nugent-Hopkins is currently 16th among Canadian forwards in points, but he’s seventh in assists, fifth in power play assists and 10th in power play points.
He also seems to be getting better with age, meaning that although he will be 32 at the time of the games, he will likely not be fading into the back half of his career.
Wouldn’t be a surprise either way
Darnell Nurse, Team Canada
Darnell Nurse is a polarizing figure, but that is mostly due to his monster eight-year, $74M contract, which even fellow NHL players say is a reason they deem him overrated.
But Nurse is a unique player who can skate like the wind while also being tough as nails. He’s finished top 10 in goals twice in the past three seasons, including tied for first in 2020–21, and has two 40-point seasons under his belt (and 36 points in only 56 games in the shortened 2020–21 season).
Those may not jump off the page, but you have to take into account that Nurse doesn’t play much power play, and when he does he is on the second unit.
He was fifth in even strength assists among Canadian defencemen last year, sixth in points and ninth in goals.
So Nurse has the combination of offence and defence that makes him attractive for the team.
The one thing that may hurt Nurse (and the next person on this list) is the lack of a Canadian defence partner. It is almost a guarantee that Colorado’s Devon Toews-Cale Makar will be the top pairing, and Vegas’ Shea Theodore-Alex Pietrangelo are the next.
That leaves Nurse battling with the likes of Josh Morrissey, Morgan Reilly, Vince Dunn, and Aaron Ekblad for a third pair defensively conscious anchor. And that is not to mention veteran Drew Doughty who could easily be put on the team as a veteran presence.
Evan Bouchard, Team Canada
Evan Bouchard has had a breakout offensive streak ever since the Tyson Barrie-Ekholm trade, which both opened up the spot on the first power play unit and gave him a steady partner to settle his game down at even strength.
Bouchard has cooled down as of late, as after a 13-game point streak he has tallied “only” 11 points in 18 games. His 43 points in 45 games is still good for third among Canadian defenders this year, and sixth in the league overall.
Bouchard’s power play prowess is his best feature, but with Makar on Team Canada, the question is whether he is really needed in that role. The rest of the defencemen will be more than competent on the second unit, and so is bringing a powerplay specialist worth a spot?
There’s also a fact that another offensive defenceman from his draft year, Noah Dobson, is also having a hell of year, and is now ahead of Bouchard in points. Dobson is second in time on ice among Canadian defencemen this year with a whopping 25:58 per game, over three minutes more than Bouch.
As mentioned above, the fact that Bouchard doesn’t have the pairing factor hurts him, or at least doesn’t help him.
Now, if Ekholm were Canadian, then both of them would be the second or third pairing without a doubt.
Perhaps the Oilers should try pairing Nurse and Bouchard together, and see if they can capture some magic to get them onto the team? Maybe not a good decision for team success though.
Luca Munzenberger, Team Germany
Luca Munzenberger was the Oilers third-round pick in 2021, and is currently playing his third season with the University of Vermont, where he has posted 11 points in 81 games in his career.
Munzenberger last played for Germany at the cancelled 2021–22 World Juniors, although he did post two assists in the two games played.
So it doesn’t seem like he should be a shoo-in for an Olympic spot at all.
Butttt…Germany only has one active NHL defenceman currently in Moritz Seider. The next most recent NHL player is Korbinian Holzer, who last played in 2019–20, and is currently playing in the DEL.
Munzenberger is only 21–years—old, and a lot can happen in two years at that age. It would seem unlikely that he would crack the NHL by then, but playing consistently in the AHL is definitely in the cards.
The one question is if he would even be Oilers’ property by the games, as being an NCAA player he could opt to not sign for the team after his college tenure is done.
What to expect in two years
A lot can happen in two years. After his 16 goals in 56 games, Nurse looked to be almost a lock for Team Canada, but now is a fringe player. Ekholm wasn’t an Oiler back then either. Bouchard hadn’t broken out and wasn’t even on the radar.
So needless to say, this list is very likely to change come the end of 2025 when the team will be selected. The Oilers could trade for other established players with Olympic qualifications. Or perhaps some prospects explode enough to make their national teams. There’s also the negative side that the Oilers won’t have some of the above players anymore, but we don’t talk about that here.
What do you think? Am I out to lunch on these picks, one way or the other? Am I missing someone? Are we all getting our hopes up a little too high given that the NHL had agreed to go to the Olympics in 2022 only to back out at the last minute? Please god don’t let it be the last one.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
