For the first time since Canada’s gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, NHL players will be allowed to play in the world’s top international sport competition per Gary Bettman, the NHL’s commissioner.
On Friday, the NHL announced that their athletes have been approved to participate in the next two Winter Olympic Games, 2026 in Milan and 2030 in a yet-to-be-announced location.
Bettman made the announcement during a press conference for the NHL’s All-Star Game and Skills Competition, highlighting how important the decision is to the players, something they have been advocating for close to 10 years.
The decision was a joint one, made between Bettman and the NHL, the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
While the decision to avoid the 2022 Games in Beijing was a somewhat understandable one due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the decision to avoid PyeongChang in 2018 was highly criticized by players, fans and media alike.
With still two years until the Olympics and a changing guard in the NHL, many questions remain about what this will mean for the makeup of the teams and the tournament itself.
Canada, while still the top national power in hockey, will have to contend not only with improved competition but also significant changes to their own personnel.
Sidney Crosby, captain of the team in Sochi and, at the time, considered the best player in the world, will be 38 years old come the Milan Olympics, so his level of play—if he plays at all—will be something to watch.
However, Canada’s four brightest young stars—Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Connor Bedard—will all be having their first chance to suit up for Canada in an international best-on-best tournament, so whatever decline we see from Canada’s stars in Sochi should be more than adequately replaced with our new superstars.
The lingering question mark though for the Canadians is in goal. Canada has produced only one Vezina Trophy (the award for the NHL’s top goalie) in the past six years, and that was Marc-Andre Fleury in 2021, who will almost assuredly be retired by the time the calendar flips to 2026. Canada’s last two winners before Fleury—Braden Holtby and Carey Price—are also both retired.
The Americans also seem poised to ice their most competitive team in a quarter of a century. They have a terrifying forward core, spearheaded by the likes of Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes, Matthew Tkachuk, Jason Robertson and Jack Eichel. This group is complemented by an arguably stronger defence core containing Quinn and Luke Hughes, Adam Fox and Charlie McAvoy.
There are also no question marks in net for the Americans: 2024 Vezina-favourite and possible MVP candidate Connor Hellebuyck headlines the squad, followed by other top-end talents in Thatcher Demko, Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman. They promise to be a handful for whoever comes their way in the tournament.
Outside of the North Americans, every team in the Olympics will be boasting fresh talent ready to make an impact.
Though the question remains if they’ll participate, superstar Kirill Kaprizov will be a force for the Russians, possibly helped by prospects Matvei Mitchkov and Ivan Demidov, who are waiting on the horizon.
2014’s silver medalists, Sweden,is primed to feature breakout stars Elias Petterson, William Nylander and Rasmus Dahlin in the upcoming tournament, and will likely be joined by Anaheim Ducks’ rookie and second-overall pick Leo Carlsson.
A long-time up-and-coming hockey nation Finland will also have a chance to defend their 2022 gold medal in Beijing, the first in their country’s history, and they’ll have a good shot at it with superstars like Mikko Rantanen, Sebastien Aho, Aleksander Barkov, Miro Heiskanen and Juuse Saros.
Another team to keep an eye on are the Germans, the 2018 gold medalists. Though they may be thin in terms of their pure number of NHLers (they have only seven this season) they make up for it with top-end skill. Leon Draisaitl is already a household name, while young players like Tim Stutzle, J.J. Peterka and Mortiz Seider have a chance to reach another level come tournament time.
Regardless of how the tournament and teams shake out, it will be refreshing to finally see a return of the international best-on-best.