Projecting Canada's 2026 Olympic men's hockey roster

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Olympic hockey is on the horizon. The men's tournament is set for Feb. 11-22 in Italy, and rosters are due four weeks from Wednesday, on Dec. 31.

Below is a projection of Team Canada's 25-man Olympic roster. We picked players who we believe Canada's brain trust - led by general manager Doug Armstrong - will take, not who we would personally select.

Note: Bolded players were named to the team in June.

Toughest omissions: Connor Bedard, Sam Bennett, Mark Scheifele

Canada's 14-man forward group can be split into four subgroups. Two are non-controversial: McDavid, Point, Crosby, MacKinnon, and Reinhart are already on the team, while Marner, Hagel, and Marchand are virtual locks.

Cirelli, Stone, and Jarvis make up the third group. Each of them was on February's 4 Nations Face-Off squad, and each has the trust of head coach Jon Cooper - Cirelli for his shutdown abilities, Stone for his veteran savvy, Jarvis for his versatility. Remember: Armstrong and his staff are trying to build the very best team possible. Every player must fill a role, sometimes multiple.

That leaves three spots. Suzuki, who's racked up 67 points in 51 games since 4 Nations, is the perfect third-line center. Celebrini has quickly become one of the best two-way forwards in the entire NHL and slots nicely at third-line left wing. And right-winger Wilson brings a unicorn skill set: a mix of shooting, playmaking, big-man physicality, and lockdown defense.

We believe Canada's managers will think long and hard about Bedard (currently third in league scoring) but ultimately opt to fill the depth spots with more experienced, well-rounded players. Scheifele is a tough cut as another top-10 scorer. Bennett, a practical shoo-in coming into the season, is also on the outside looking in following a poor first 25 games for the Panthers.

Wyatt Johnston, John Tavares, Bo Horvat, Travis Konecny, and Morgan Geekie are five other players surely garnering serious consideration up front.

Toughest omission: Matthew Schaefer

We believe Canada will return the same defense corps that won the 4 Nations, even if it makes this exercise less exciting. (Seven defensemen were permitted at that event, but Harley was added mid-tournament after Theodore's injury.)

Toews is the closest thing to a lock outside of Makar. Morrissey, Harley, and Theodore all bring offense (and power-play quarterbacking capabilities, if Makar were to miss any time), but none of them have an outsized amount of risk in their game compared to someone like Evan Bouchard. Parayko and Sanheim present much-needed size and snarl and will likely be counted on to kill penalties.

Doughty was fresh off a significant ankle injury at 4 Nations yet showed he can handle the speed of best-on-best hockey. His experience as a two-time Olympian and two-time Stanley Cup champion make him an easy choice.

With due respect to players like Bouchard, Jakob Chychrun, Noah Dobson, and Brandon Montour, Schaefer was the only defenseman who really gave us pause. What the 18-year-old phenom is doing for the Islanders is nothing short of remarkable. However, it's worth noting that New York has sheltered him from opposing top lines all season. Against countries like the United States and Sweden, there's nowhere to hide, so we think Armstrong will err on the side of caution and keep intact the group that flourished at 4 Nations.

Toughest omissions: Mackenzie Blackwood, Darcy Kuemper

Binnington, Adin Hill, and Sam Montembeault were Canada's goalies at 4 Nations. All three have struggled mightily in 2025-26 (save percentages below .890), and Hill's appeared in just five games for Vegas due to injury.

In other words, Canada's goaltending room will look much different in Italy.

Binnington, a key member of the 2019 Stanley Cup-winning Blues, will be the one familiar face. He was between the pipes for every minute of the 4 Nations experience and stoned the Americans multiple times in a dramatic, tension-filled title game. Even in a down year, Binnington's big-game resume holds tremendous value for a nation without a legitimate star goalie to call upon.

Thompson, meanwhile, is rocking a .913 SV% and strong underlying numbers in 62 games over the past two seasons. Leaving the Capitals starter off the Olympic roster would be indefensible given the lackluster other options.

Wedgewood would fill the No. 3 role well. He's built a terrific reputation as a career backup and happens to be excelling in an expanded role this year (.920 SV% in 19 games). His stiffest competition has either been hurt for much of the season (Blackwood) or is fading into the background with good-but-not-great late-career numbers (Kuemper). Wedgewood sticks out.