We are now just days away from the beginning of the 2026 Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey event, and with five St. Louis Blues representatives, we are finally able to see who they will be playing with when the tournament starts.
The St. Louis Blues have sent five players to the 2026 Winter Olympics, and after initial practices, a clearer picture of where those players will play for their respective countries has emerged.
We’ll start with Canada, where Colton Parayko is slated to skate on the second pairing alongside Winnipeg Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey. Parayko and Morrissey skated together at the 4 Nations Face-Off and posted strong results before Morrissey missed the final due to illness.
Parayko and Morrissey’s games complement each other. Morrissey is a bit of a smaller defenseman, listed at six feet. His greatest strengths are his skating and offensive abilities. Parayko, on the other hand, is a 6-foot-6 physical defender known for his defensive capabilities. Payrako’s defensive awareness allows Morrissey more freedom to jump into the play and create offense.
Currently, the goaltending situation for Canada hasn’t been revealed, but it will likely come down to either Jordan Binnington or Logan Thompson.
Canada begins its tournament on Thursday against Czechia.
Canada is slated to take on Switzerland on Friday, and a key figure for Switzerland will be center Pius Suter. He was skating on Switzerland’s second line alongside Jets’ winger Nino Niederreiter and San Jose Sharks’ Phillip Kurashev.
Switzerland’s first line, which consists of Kevin Fiala, Nico Hischier, and Timo Meier, will be instructed to score the goals. The second line, centered by Suter, will be instructed to play sound defence and chip in when needed.
Switzerland begins their tournament on Thursday against France.
Philip Broberg leads the Blues in average ice time (23:01). (Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)Philip Broberg was deserving of a spot on Team Sweden’s roster, but it was still a surprise given the unbelievable depth Sweden has on the backend. But Broberg hasn’t just earned a spot on the roster; he’s earned a spot in the lineup alongside one of the greatest Swedish defensemen and one of the greatest offensive defensemen the NHL has ever seen, Erik Karlsson.
With the looks of it, Broberg and Karlsson will form the third pairing, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see them still play a fair amount at even strength. Like the Parayko and Morrissey pairing, Broberg will provide the size and defensive responsibility while allowing Karlsson to jump into the play and do what he does best.
Sweden’s tournament begins on Wednesday when they take on the hosts, Italy.
The final Blues representative is Dalibor Dvorksy, who is slated to center Slovakia’s second line. He’ll be in between Adam Liska, a 26-year-old playing in the KHL, and Libor Hudáček, a 35-year-old playing in the Czech Extraliga.
According to Puckpedia, Dvorsky is projected to skate on the top power play unit, which also features Montreal Canadiens’ Juraj Slafkovsky and New Jersey Devils’ Simon Nemec.
Slovakia plays in the tournament opener on Wednesday against Finland.
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