The two-time gold medalist will be 38 when the Winter Olympics come to Italy in 2026, so what will his role be with Team Canada when the games come around?

In 2026, the Winter Olympics will make their return to Italy, marking the 20th anniversary of the 2006 Olympics in Turin.

And in more ways than one, this will be a redemption tour for Sidney Crosby and Team Canada.

Firstly, Crosby was famously left off the 2006 Canadian Olympic roster amidst his 102-point rookie season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Crosby finished sixth in league scoring that year, with Dany Heatley and Joe Thornton being the only Canadians above him. It’s perhaps the only time Crosby has been snubbed for a roster spot.

The ultra-competitive Crosby doesn’t forget things like that.

“It’s always something I think about when I’m reminded of it,” Crosby said in 2009.

And secondly, Team Canada ended up playing a miserable tournament in Turin, finishing seventh, their worst-ever result at the Olympics. That only magnified the criticism of Canada’s roster selection, which also left young stars Eric Staal and Jason Spezza off the main roster (both were on the taxi squad).

Canada dropped two group-stage games, including a shocking defeat at the hands of Switzerland, before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Russia.

Sandwiched between two of the most memorable Olympic golds in Team Canada’s history in Salt Lake City in 2002 and Vancouver in 2010, Turin is a sore subject for many Canadian hockey fans.

Thankfully, Crosby and the Canadians will have a chance to rewrite history in Italy in two years.

This time, it will be with a much more experienced Crosby, and a very different, less youth-averse roster.

As NHLers have been prevented from Olympic participation since the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, few pieces remain from previous Olympic rosters. Seventeen members of the 25-man Sochi roster have retired from hockey.

Of those still playing, John Tavares, Alex Pietrangelo and Drew Doughty are still viable options for 2026, to varying degrees.

But for many, this Olympics will be all about the arrival of superstars like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Brayden Point to the global stage. While they've had world championships and world juniors under their belts, that quartet hasn’t had the opportunity to star in a true 'best-on-best' tournament.

Still, Crosby remains one of the greatest players in the world a full decade after last winning gold in 2014.

In June, Crosby was named alongside McDavid, MacKinnon, Makar, Point and Brad Marchand to Canada’s Four Nations Face-Off roster. That tournament is set to be played in February 2025.

The early nod further solidifies Crosby’s role as Canada’s presumptive captain and one of its most dependable game-breakers.

Although Pittsburgh has lacked any playoff success since back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017, any success they have had has been the direct result of Crosby’s continued dominance.

Crosby paced the Penguins with 94 points in 2023-24, his age-36 season. In April, he tied Wayne Gretzky’s record of 19 consecutive point-per-game seasons, a testament to his durability and consistency in the NHL.

While MacKinnon and McDavid will headline as Canada’s offensive leaders, having recorded 140 and 132 points, respectively, this past season, Crosby will be relied on for his elite two-way game, which has garnered Selke Trophy conversation for years now.

Depending on how head coach Jon Cooper decides to configure his wealth of talent at the centre position, Crosby could be a luxury second or third-line pivot behind McDavid or MacKinnon. Of course, we can’t rule out the possibility of loading up the top line with all three, which automatically becomes the most talented forward line ever assembled.

Despite the myriad of reasons why Crosby is deserving of a large on-ice role at the Olympics, it’s ultimately his leadership and experience that will cement his role for Canada in the event of an unlikely slip in his play.

As the scorer of the “Golden Goal” in Vancouver and a former Olympic captain in Sochi, perhaps no other player than Gretzky at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano has had a more impressive resume to lead his team at the Games.

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Once one of Canada’s youngest players at the 2010 Olympics, Crosby will be expected to lead the nation’s brightest as one of its most grizzled and talented veterans in 2026.

If his two Olympic gold medals say anything, it’s that he’s more than up to the task.