Hockey Canada announced the men's hockey roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. The deadline for national teams to submit their 25-player rosters is on Wednesday. After France announced their roster earlier this month [https://www.hockeyfrance.com/a-la-une/2025/12/jeux-olympiques-les-listes-des-equipes-de-france/], the Canadians announced their Olympians at the Renaissance Hotel in Minneapolis, Minn., during the World Junior Championship. "We felt this was the best team we could select," Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong told reporters. "We want to build a roster that can compete against anybody, and I assume all the other countries are doing the same thing. It's a very dangerous and slippery slope when you do something just for one opponent and you don't face them." This will be the first time NHL players will feature in the Olympics since the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. While that was nearly 12 years ago, a couple of players on the 2026 roster have experienced that tournament. Canada's captain and center, Sidney Crosby, and defenseman Drew Doughty played for Canada in 2014. They went on to win gold against Sweden, the second Olympic gold medal of Crosby and Doughty's careers. Most of this Canadian squad won gold at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February 2025, when Connor McDavid scored in overtime against Team USA in the final. "From the moment that Connor McDavid scored that goal at the 4 Nations Face-Off, Canadians had been debating this roster, who should be on it, who should not be," Hockey Canada vice-president of hockey operations Scott Salmond said Wednesday. "That debate won't change today, but what I can tell you, and what's undebatable, is the commitment, the time and the effort that (Doug Armstrong) and his management group has put into selecting this roster." All defensemen from the 4 Nations roster will be going to the Olympics. Armstrong praised the defense group's skill level, balance and experience of winning in the NHL and internationally. He described opponents trying to get past Colton Parayko and Travis Sanheim on the ice as "swimming through seaweed." As for the forwards, 10 of them are returning from 4 Nations. Seth Jarvis, Sam Bennett and Travis Konecny are not returning, while Nick Suzuki, Macklin Celebrini, Bo Horvat and Tom Wilson are forwards who weren't at 4 Nations. Jordan Binnington is the only goaltender who played at the 4 Nations who will be at the Olympics. Darcy Kuemper and Logan Thompson replace Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault. Here's the 25-man roster. Asterisks indicate players who were already named to the roster during the summer. TEAM CANADA FORWARDS Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins]* Connor McDavid, Edmonton [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers]* Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche]* Sam Reinhart, Florida [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers]* Brayden Point, Tampa Bay [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning]* Mitch Marner, Vegas [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vegas-golden-knights] Nick Suzuki, Montreal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] Macklin Celebrini, San Jose [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks] Anthony Cirelli, Tampa Bay Brad Marchand, Florida Brandon Hagel, Tampa Bay Mark Stone, Vegas Tom Wilson, Washington [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/washington-capitals/latest-news/capitals-tom-wilson-logan-thompson-to-represent-canada-at-the-olympics] Bo Horvat, NY Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/islanders-bo-horvat-makes-team-canada-for-2026-winter-olympics-matthew-schaefer-left-off] DEFENSE Cale Makar, Colorado* Devon Toews, Colorado Drew Doughty, Los Angeles [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings] Thomas Harley, Dallas [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/dallas-stars] Shea Theodore, Vegas Colton Parayko, St. Louis [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues] Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers] Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/winnipeg-jets] GOALIES Logan Thompson, Washington Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Darcy Kuemper, Los Angeles Armstrong confirmed the Canadians have a long list of players to look at in case of injuries. But instead of having specific players at the top of the order, they will look at the type of player who gets hurt and replace them with a player who fits that type. The men's tournament is set to begin on Feb. 11. Canada's first game of the competition comes on Feb. 12 as they take on Czechia to kick off their campaign. Jonathan Tovell contributed to this report. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/72143bd3-b62b-46c1-91cd-07e0fcf5e25f.jpeg] For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
