Team Canada's goaltending choices are up for debate, and NHL icon Wayne Gretzky believes St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington should begin the tournament as Canada's starter. If Binnington does start in Canada's first game, he won't have much of a leash.
As the 2026 Winter Olympics are nearly one month away, speculation and debate are rising when it comes to certain areas of certain teams.
For instance, Sweden is likely still deciding between Minnesota Wild goalies Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson to be the starter. But either of those two goaltenders should give the Swedes the netminding they need to challenge for a gold medal.
However, there’s a much bigger debate regarding another team’s goaltending – and that team is Team Canada.
Canada is bringing St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington to the Olympics, as well as Washington Capitals No. 1 Logan Thompson and Los Angeles Kings starter Darcy Kuemper as their goalie trio.
But as part of the TNT television panel Wednesday night, NHL icons Wayne Gretzky and Henrik Lundqvist were discussing Binnington, and who Canada’s starting goalie will be when the Olympics begin.
“Binnington’s pedigree is that he’s a winner,” Gretzky said on the broadcast, making the case that Binnington should start the first game for Canada.
“If they would play tomorrow, I would start Thompson,” Lundqvist countered. “But there’s no question that, with Binnington’s history, he has a lot of leverage.”
That’s the crux of the argument in favor of Binnington being Canada’s first option in net.
Binnington is a Stanley Cup winner, and his gutsy performance at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off proved that if he’s on a team that has excellent defensemen and forwards that pay attention to all parts of the ice, he can deliver wins in the most high-pressure situations.
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The problem at the moment, though, is that Binnington has been struggling mightily all season long. In 26 games this season, he’s posted an .871 save percentage and a 3.55 goals-against average.
In his past four games, Binnington has lost three times. He’s allowed a whopping 17 goals over those three losses, including seven goals to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Binnington has also allowed four goals or more in five of his past eight games.
Binnington did post one shutout this week, stopping 26 Montreal Canadiens shots in a 2-0 Blues win on Saturday. But in the three losses, Binnington posted an SP of .860 or worse.
While you have to chalk up some of that to the Blues’ porous defense – St. Louis has the NHL’s fourth-worst goals-against average at 3.43 goals against per game – you also have to lay some of the blame at Binnington’s feet.
Meanwhile, it can’t be denied that Thompson and Kuemper are having significantly better seasons than Binnington, statistically.
Thompson has been outstanding for Washington, posting a .915 SP and 2.40 GAA in 31 appearances, while Kuemper has a .910 SP and a 2.38 GAA in 27 contests. So it’s understandable why some observers believe Thompson or Kuemper is the right choice for Canada at the Olympics.
As Lundqvist noted, there are still a few weeks of NHL games for one goalie to step up and make his best case to be the Canadian team’s starter. But the reality is that Binnington’s success at the 4 Nations Face-Off has earned him the trust of Team Canada’s management and coaches. And for that reason, he’s almost certainly going to begin the best-on-best tournament as Canada’s No. 1 option between the pipes.
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Now, if Binnington stumbles badly in Canada's opener of the round-robin portion of the Olympics, he could be yanked quickly.
No team can afford to have its goalie dealing with a multi-game losing skid, so the leash on Binnington is going to be extremely short. But Canadian coach Jon Cooper will more than likely give Binnington an opportunity to demonstrate, once again, that he can be a difference-maker in high-stakes scenarios.
Gretzky is right in noting Binnington’s pedigree as a winner. If he can be a battler who guesses right more often than not, he’s going to prove Canada's management was right to depend on him once again.
But if he can’t deliver strong performances right out of the gate, Binnington isn’t going to last very long as Canada’s starter.
Thompson and Kuemper have their believers among the Canadian braintrust, and they’ll be ready, willing and able to step in on short notice if Binnington can’t get the job done. So while Binnington is the likely candidate to be Canada’s No. 1 netminder, the pressure on him is going to be immense.
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