The Canadian and American men’s national hockey teams had fierce battles at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and there are fewer than eight months left until they play at the 2026 Olympics.
The hockey world is gearing up for the Olympics in Milan, Italy, with the announcements of the first six players for each national men’s team’s roster. The Canadian and American teams – both of which will be considered the favorites to win gold at the games – made selections grounded in NHL domination and Stanley Cup championships.
Five of the six Canadian players named to the roster – Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point and Florida’s Sam Reinhart – all have at least one Cup win to their credit. Only Edmonton’s Connor McDavid doesn’t have a Cup on his resume, which could change in the current Cup final. In total, the six Canadian players have eight Cup wins.
On the other hand, the first six American players do not have the same championship pedigree. Vegas’ Jack Eichel and Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk each have one Cup win, but the other four U.S. players – Toronto’s Auston Matthews, Boston’s Charlie McAvoy, Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes and Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk – are still searching for their first.
That said, the American team will almost assuredly have an edge in two areas – goaltending and defense. You can see that already in the announcement of the first six players and in the projections of who almost certainly will be named to the team.
The United States’ first six players include two defensemen (McAvoy and Hughes), while Canada has only one in Makar. Both countries will have their share of stars on the blueline, including New York Rangers D-man Adam Fox for Team USA and Golden Knights blueliner Shea Theodore for Canada. But we still see the Americans having more high-quality depth on the back end than Canada does.
Meanwhile, neither team included a goalie in their initial roster announcement, the Americans will likely have Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck and then two of Dallas’ Jake Oettinger, Boston’s Jeremy Swayman and Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko. And there are no clear-cut choices for the tandem in net for Canada, other than St. Louis’ Jordan Binnington, who starred in this year’s 4 Nations Face-Off. But in terms of all-around goaltending depth, this is an area where the U.S. has the advantage.
When it comes to forwards, we anticipate it will be significantly harder to separate the Americans from the Canadians in terms of overall quality. On paper, the States’ forwards may look more dynamic, and they will certainly be younger overall than Canada’s probable group.
However, as we saw in the 4 Nations Face-Off, Team Canada ultimately had better performances from their forwards than the Americans did. And Binnington proved to be the best player between the pipes between the Canadians and Americans when it mattered most.
Thus, it’s still likely that the Olympics is a crapshoot between the Canadians and Americans. There’s always a possibility another country pulls off an upset, and who knows – the Swedes, Finns or Czechs could be that country in 2026.
2026 Olympic Hockey Schedules Released
The schedules for the 2026 men's and women's Olympic hockey tournaments <a href="https://milanocortina2026.olympics.com/en/news/ice-hockey-milano-cortina-2026-olympic-schedule">are out</a>.
However, you can rest assured that the early line on the favorites to win gold in Italy will be America and Canada. And as subsequent roster announcements bring the big picture into view, we only see the Canadians and Americans being underscored as the odds-on choices to win it all.
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