Ducks 2024 first-round Stian Solberg will be part of the team looking to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
After competing for Norway at both World Juniors and the World Championships, Stian Solberg will now attempt to help Norway qualify for the 2026 Olympics.
Solberg was a steady riser up draft boards before the Ducks traded up to select him with the 23rd overall pick. He had strong performances at World Juniors but his play at the World Championships drew the most eyes to him. Keeping up and succeeding against your age group is one thing. Doing it against grown men and NHLers is another.
He had a big role on the blue line for Norway in both tournaments, playing upwards of 24 minutes per game at World Juniors and almost the same amount per game at World Championships. He is expected to reprise the same kind of role for the final qualifying tournament at the end of this August.
The Norwegian team also has 19 returnees from their World Championships team aside from Solberg who will be part of their Olympic qualification team. Mats Zuccarello and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Solberg's childhood friend and fellow 2024 first-round draft pick, are among the returnees. Both of Norway's goaltenders, Jonas Arntzen and Henrik Haukeland, will return as well.
Norway was ranked 12th following the 2023 World Championships, which meant they did not receive an automatic bid for Olympic qualification. However, teams ranked 9-12 were automatically entered into the final qualification tournament, meaning Norway did not have to compete in the first, second and third rounds of qualification.
The final qualification tournament is split into three groups with the team who finishes top in each respective group qualifying for the 2026 Olympics. Norway has been drawn into Group D along with Great Britain, Japan and Denmark, which is the host country for Group D. The Norwegians are expected to travel to Denmark on Aug. 26.