Team Canada and Team USA have left off some serious offensive talent for the upcoming 2026 Olympics. But what was the reasoning behind both GMs' decisions?
NHL players will begin heading to Italy at the end of this week in preparation for the 2026 Winter Olympic men's hockey tournament in Milano Cortina. Both Team Canada and Team USA have selected rosters quite close to those that were chosen for the 4 Nations Face-Off last year.
Team Canada opted for a roster long on experience and relied heavily on their superstars to carry the day, while Team USA followed their usual script of including players considered defensive or faceoff specialists or adept at penalty killing to fill certain roles, while leaving off some of the best offensive talent because of their size or their two-way shortcomings.
The Olympic rosters were larger than that for the 4 Nations (25 spots instead of 23), which allowed Canada GM Doug Armstrong and USA GM Bill Guerin to carry an additional forward and blueliner, but neither significantly altered the blueprint of their rosters.
For Canada, that is understandable, since they won the 4 Nations tournament, but were reliant on the goaltending of Jordan Binnington in the championship game, and on the heroic exploits of Connor McDavid to win in overtime over the Americans.
Team Canada
Out: Adin Hill, Samuel Montembeault, Seth Jarvis, Travis Konecny, Sam Bennett
In: Darcy Kuemper, Logan Thompson, Tom Wilson, Macklin Celebrini, Nick Suzuki, Bo Horvat
Armstrong kept Binnington despite his struggles with the St. Louis Blues this season, and opted to keep grizzled Olympic veterans like Drew Doughty, Brad Marchand, and Sidney Crosby, but added star centers Celebrini, Suzuki, and Horvat, who will all likely shift to the wing with McDavid, Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon playing up the middle.
Wilson replaced Bennett to counter the Tkachuk brothers, instead of adding young phenoms Connor Bedard or Matthew Schaefer, or Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston. In all those cases, inexperience and a lack of physicality trumped speed and skill.
Team USA
Out: Chris Kreider, Adam Fox
In: Clayton Keller, Tage Thompson, Jackson LaCombe (injury replacement)
Guerin’s omissions are more glaring, with Team USA’s roster more crafted towards size, especially with it being revealed that the arena in Milan is slightly smaller than a regulation NHL rink.
Going back to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, GM Brian Burke selected specialists like Jamie Langenbrunner, Chris Drury, and Ryan Malone, but had fewer options than the Americans do today.
It appears that the American roster has been crafted to better fit head coach Mike Sullivan’s tendencies and familiarity, choosing the likes of New York Rangers centers Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller, because of their sandpaper and two-way qualities, instead of elite scorers like Alex DeBrincat, Jason Robertson and Cole Caufield.
Cole Caufield (Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images)Sullivan played Miller, Trocheck, and an injured Kreider over 40-goal scorer Kyle Connor in the 4 Nations championship game. Robertson has the size, but does not play an aggressive game and is not the strongest skater. With DeBrincat and Caufield, their scoring ability and speed are top-tier, but their lack of size appears to be disqualifying.
That size factor also appears to have been a factor in the injury replacement of Seth Jones with the Anaheim Ducks’ Jackson LaCombe. The 6-foot-2 LaCombe is having a solid third season with the Ducks, but was considered a better fit as the replacement for a big defensive stalwart like Jones than diminutive Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson.
If someone like Quinn Hughes had to be replaced, it is possible that Hutson would have been selected for his power-play abilities.
There is the possibility, based on injuries, that some of the players who are currently on the outside looking in could be injury replacements, but if the US does not win and struggles to score at the Olympics, there will be more questions about the players left behind.
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