The 12 countries competing in the 2026 Men’s Olympic Hockey Tournament will unveil the first six players on their preliminary rosters Monday.
With Russia barred from participating, New York Islanders Ilya Sorokin, Alexander Romanov, Maxim Tsyplakov, and Semyon Varlamov will be ineligible for selection.
Still, the Islanders are expected to have four players in strong contention for a spot in the tournament:
Bo Horvat represented Canada at the 2025 World Championship and had an impressive eight points (four goals, four assists) in six games before sustaining a lower-body injury.
Noah Dobson was teammates with Horvat at the 2025 World Championship and had four points (one goal, three assists) in eight games.
He ranked second in points among Canadian defenseman.
Mathew Barzal’s lower-body injury that kept him off the ice for the final two months of the NHL’s regular season made it a no-brainer to keep him off the World Championship’s roster, but Canada could consider him for the Olympics.
He most recently represented Canada at the 2022 World Championship, where he had eight points (two goals, six assists) in nine games en route to a silver medal.
The Islanders fourth and only non-Canadian candidate is Simon Holmstron, who was expected to go to the World Championship to represent Sweden but was left off the team.
Now with additional motivation, a strong start to the 2024-25 season could have him force his way onto the team.
Photo Credit: Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images
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