Of 7 Team Canada Hopefuls, Analyst Only Gives 3 A Chance To Make Olympic Roster

Making Team Canada for the 2026 Olympics is going to be very tough and only 13 forwards, seven defensemen, and three goalies are expected to be on the roster. At the 4 Nations Faceoff last year, an interesting group for Canada was selected, with influence by the Tampa Bay Lightning head coach, Jon Cooper, and the St. Louis Blues GM, Doug Armstrong.

The 4 Nations Faceoff is one thing, but the Olympics is the highest stage of international competition and Canada can't make mistakes and select based on team bias. The best players should be brought, even if it's one or two more than were selected from the last team.

Pierre LeBrun said, "I think there's a group of players that weren't at 4 Nations that remain heavily in the conversation; Celebrini, Horvat, Wilson, Suzuki, Johnston, Scheifele, Bedard. To me, only three of that list make the Olympic roster." Just among those seven players, there are going to be some very good forwards left off the roster initially. And that isn't including the forwards that will have to be kicked off the team from 4 Nations to give room for the new players.

The safe bets to be on the team include Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, and Sam Reinhart, but I expect players like Mitch Marner, Brayden Point, Brad Marchand, and Sam Bennett to also make the team to play certain roles. Marner and Point aren't having seasons expected of them, while the players among the Team Canada hopefuls that weren't on the last team are all playing better.

That means there are question marks for Mark Stone, Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, Travis Konecny, and Seth Jarvis. Three of these players will likely be swapped out, and the expectation is that it will be Cirelly, Konecny, and one of Jarvis or Hagel.

Now, getting in is the very tough call. Tom Wilson is having a very good season again and he brings the physical element that can match the Americans. He is a one-of-a-kind player and pairing him with Bennett and Marchand would be menacing. Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard have broken out in a major way offensively and are among the league leaders in points. They can't be denied, and even if they aren't the present for Team Canada, they are absolutely the future. Many are saying Celebrini has the step up on Bedard.

Wyatt Johnston has continued to be elite this season and is unstoppable on the power play with 12 power-play goals and 19 power-play points already. Then there are strong center options in Mark Scheifele, Nick Suzuki, and Bo Horvat. If there is one player, while having a good season, that won't make it, it's Horvat. No easy decisions are to come and not many will be happy with who is brought or left at home.