Four 2026 Olympic rosters have been announced to this point - Canada, U.S.A., Sweden, and Finland. From those teams, only one Chicago Blackhawk player will be representing, Tuevo Teravainen for Team Finland, but there is a lot of representation already by former Blackhawks.
On just the four teams, there are six former Blackhawks - Brandon Hagel, Seth Jones, Gustav Forsling, Henri Jokiharju, Olli Maatta, and of course Mikko Rantanen, who played no games, but was a Blackhawks for a second when the team ate some of his cap when he was dealt between the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes.
Hagel returns to Team Canada after appearing at the 4 Nations Faceoff. He started his NHL career with the Blackhawks between 2019-22 before he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 27-year-old has 18 goals and 35 points in 35 games this season.
Jones is coming off of being a big factor in the Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup win after being traded last season in exchange for Spencer Knight. The deal has worked out for both and he has six goals and 24 points while averaging over 24 minutes per night in 39 games this season.
Forsling also plays for the Panthers and has been a part of the team that has gone to three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals and win two in a row. He is a top pairing defenseman who is great defensively, but since he lacks the power-play time, it's up for debate who is the number one on the team, him or Jones. He also started his NHL career with the Blackhawks and they gave up on him at age 22.
Jokiharju was swapped for Alex Nylander back in 2019 and the trade worked out better for the Buffalo Sabres than it did for the Blackhawks. Fast forward to now and the regular in the Boston Bruins' lineup is headed to the Olympics. The 26-year-old is currently injured, but plays in all situations and has six assists in 25 games this season.
Maatta had a short stop in Chicago as a 25-year-old in 2019-20, but is now 31 and playing for the Utah Mammoth. He hasn't been impactful for the team this season, but Finland's defensive depth internationally isn't very good. He has an assist in 19 games this season while averaging under 12 minutes per game.
As for Rantanen, he's a superstar with 16 goals and 56 points in 40 games this season and never played a game for Chicago as I mentioned.
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