Canada unveils Olympic roster for Milan Cortina
Canada unveiled its highly anticipated men's hockey roster for the 2026 Olympics on Wednesday.
The group heading to Milan Cortina is nearly identical to the squad that won the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, with a handful of new additions. Canada can still make changes if injuries occur.
Forwards
Suzuki, Celebrini, Horvat, and Wilson weren't on the 4 Nations roster. Celebrini, 19, played his way onto the team with 60 points in his sophomore season, which trails only McDavid and MacKinnon in the NHL's scoring race.
Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard is perhaps the most notable omission from Canada's roster. He racked up 44 points in 31 games before an upper-body injury sidelined him in mid-December. However, Canada general manager Doug Armstrong said the issue wasn't a deciding factor in Bedard missing the cut.
The 4 Nations forwards who aren't returning to the Canadian team are Sam Bennett, Seth Jarvis, and Travis Konecny. Notably, Bennett has won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Florida Panthers and won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP this past spring.
Defensemen
Canada's defensive corps is the same unit that won the 4 Nations. Makar was one of the first six skaters named to the team over the summer and is in the driver's seat to win the Norris Trophy for the third time in seven seasons.
Doughty is the only Canadian defenseman with Olympic experience. He captured gold medals in 2010 and 2014 and has also won at the international level at the world juniors, World Cup, and 4 Nations.
New York Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer was speculated to be in the mix to make the team as an 18-year-old but missed out amid his dominant debut campaign.
"He's a fantastic talent, he brings you out of your seat every night," Armstrong said of Schaefer. "He's got maturity beyond his years on and off the ice."
Goaltenders
Binnington is the lone returnee after backstopping Canada to its 4 Nations title. He has a longstanding relationship with Armstrong and a Stanley Cup on his resume but has the worst stats of Canada's goaltending trio this season.
The St. Louis Blues netminder has an .870 save percentage and seven wins in 23 appearances this season. Thompson, a surprising snub from the 4 Nations roster, owns a .915 clip in 2025-26 after finishing fourth in Vezina Trophy voting last year.
Kuemper is coming off an injury but has posted a .917 save percentage when healthy.
Samuel Montembeault and Adin Hill were on the 4 Nations roster but didn't get any playing time.