Projecting Canada's 2026 Olympic men's hockey roster

More from this series:

• European teams 🇪🇺
• United States 🇺🇸
• Canada 🇨🇦

We're exactly six months away from the opening ceremonies of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Feb. 6. To celebrate, theScore's Kyle Cushman and Josh Wegman decided to project rosters for the men's hockey tournament, which will include NHLers for the first time since 2014.

Our series continues with Team Canada, which has won four consecutive best-on-best international hockey tournaments: The 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, the 2016 World Cup, the 2014 Olympics, and the 2010 Olympics.

Unlike the 4 Nations Face-Off, which permitted teams to carry 20 skaters and dress 18, Olympic rosters are expanded. Each team can take 22 skaters and dress 20. Bolded players were already named to their respective rosters in June.

Forwards

Toughest omissions: Travis Konecny, Macklin Celebrini

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? We're returning largely the same group up front from Canada's winning team at the 4 Nations Face-Off. The only differences are the arrival of Suzuki and Thomas, and the omission of Konecny, who was a healthy scratch in the final. We considered keeping Konecny over Jarvis, but opted for the latter because of his penalty-killing and defensive abilities.

Suzuki has evolved into one of the game's better two-way centers, putting up 89 points while finishing 13th in Selke Trophy voting. He also has a penchant for stepping up in the clutch, which should help him earn a spot on this team. Thomas, meanwhile, might've been on the 4 Nations squad if it weren't for an early-season injury. Remember, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong is picking Canada's roster, and he knows Thomas' game as well as anyone.

Both Celebrini and Connor Bedard could play their way onto this team with strong starts to the 2025-26 campaign, but that requires more projecting than we were willing to do at this point - especially given Canada's enviable depth. Celebrini has a legitimate shot. But there are concerns about Bedard's poor defensive play and the lack of pace in his game. - Wegman

Defense

Toughest omissions: Travis Sanheim, Noah Dobson

The core of Canada's defense is locked in. Toews, Makar, Morrissey, and Theodore are guarantees for Canada's roster, assuming they stay healthy, and could even form the entire top four.

Parayko was a slight surprise at the 4 Nations, but considering Armstrong is at the helm, it would now be a surprise to see the 6-foot-6 blue-liner left off the roster. Harley's evolution over the past two seasons has made him nearly impossible to deny. He was an injury replacement at the 4 Nations, but he still played over 21 minutes in the championship game to rank fourth on Canada in usage.

The big questions lie in the final two spots. Doughty will be 36 years old when the 2026 Olympics take place. The oldest defenseman on Canada's 2014 roster was then-31-year-old Dan Hamhuis. Doughty logs huge minutes in Los Angeles, but he needs to maintain - or even increase - his level of play early next season to avoid being replaced by a younger option.

Bouchard is the most polarizing Canadian defender in the game right now. His fans see an elite offensive defenseman who generates positive results and has historic levels of playoff production. His detractors view his errors as too costly for a Canadian team that can choose from an outrageous pool of talent. With two more roster spots available at the Olympics, Bouchard gets the nod as the last defender. His offensive impact is too great to leave at home, and at worst, he's a No. 8 who sits in the press box as injury insurance. - Cushman

Goaltending

Toughest omissions: Logan Thompson, Sam Montembeault, Darcy Kuemper

Binnington established himself as Canada's starter with his heroic effort in the championship game of the 4 Nations. That's enough to start the Olympic tournament as Canada's likely No. 1, but a lot can change between the pipes in the next six months.

Hill also remains from the 4 Nations roster. He's massive at 6-foot-6 and plays behind a similarly huge defense in Vegas. Hill's lackluster playoff run puts his position in jeopardy, and he'll need to impress early next season to maintain his spot on the roster.

The wild card here is Blackwood. The 28-year-old has seemingly turned the corner after struggles in New Jersey and early in his tenure with San Jose. He was excellent early last season with the Sharks and continued that form in a completely different environment in Colorado. At 6-foot-4 with elite athleticism, Blackwood has the highest upside of any Canadian goaltender right now and is Binnington's biggest threat for the No. 1 spot. - Cushman