The qualifers for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic games will begin this week. There, 12 teams will battle for the final three spots for the games.
The teams are split into three groups, with the winner of each group winning a spot.
Among the rosters of the 12 teams are 19 former QMJHL alumni, who will look to take their team to the biggest stage in international hockey.
The only two teams without representation from the QMJHL are Kazahkstan and Great Britain.
Group D
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Group E
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Group F
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The games will be streamed live starting Thursday from the IIHF's YouTube account.
Below is a list of all the former QMJHLers who is expected to be at the tournament in just a few short days.
Austria
Austria's team boasts a fairly young squad, featuring a number of NHL young guns and prospects like Montreal's David Reinbacher and Vincenz Rohrer and Detroit's Marco Kasper. Even without the likes of Minnesota' Marco Rossi, Austria is fielding a pretty decent squad. The squad is only made more decent with the additions of two ex-QMJHLers.
Thimo Nickl is the most prominent alumni, having been a former Anaheim Ducks draft pick in 2020.
The defender played in the QMJHL for the 2019-20 season with the Drummondville Voltigeurs notching 39 points (10+29) in 58 games. Last season, he had a 21-point (2+19), 66 game campaign with the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers and is expected to return to Austria, signing with EC-KAC for the 2024-25 season.
The other, is Mario Huber. Huber played on the Victoriaville Tigres for the 2015-16 season tallying an impressive 51 points (20+31) in 63 games. Huber is returning to HC Salzburg, where he's won back to back championships.
Denmark
Denmark's 23-man roster features a number of NHL players including the likes of Frederik Andersen (Hurricanes), Oliver Bjorkstrand (Kraken) and Lars Eller (Penguins) to name a few, as well as two former QMJHL players.
The most notable QMJHL alumnus on the team is Winnipeg Jets left winger Nikolaj Ehlers. Ehlers is coming off a strong 61-point (25+36) season with the Jets and is likely the team's star player.
Ehlers previously played in the QMJHL from 2013-2015, suiting up in 114 games with the Halifax Mooseheads and registered 86 goals and 118 assists for 204 points.
The other fellow QMJHLer on the team is centre Christian Wejse. Wejse, 25, played for the Fischtown Pinguins of the DEL in Germany last season, notching 26 points (17+9) in 47 games. He's also coming off a strong showing at the World Championships, where he led Denmark with 6 points (3+3) in 7 games at the tournament.
Wejse played with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada for the 2016-17 season, posting 3 (2+1) points across 23 games.
France
France should be a surprisingly strong contender, with names like Pierre-Eduard Bellemare, Alexandre Texier and Yohann Auvitu. In addition to them, the team rostered a couple names QMJHL fans may recognize.
In goal is Capitals prospect and former Acadie-Bathurst Titan goaltender Antoine Keller. He played with the Titan last year not only posting a solid .897 save percentage across 37 games with the team, but also a goal.
The 20-year old goaltender will play for Lausanne HC of the Swiss National League this upcoming season.
The team also brings championship pedigree in the form of former QMJHL champion and now AHL champion Pierrick Dube. Dube played in the QMJHL from 2017-2022 with the Quebec Remparts, Chicoutimi Saguenéens and the Shawinigan Cataractes where he scored 149 points (75+74) in 219 games. He is coming off a 48 point (28+20) season with the Hershey Bears, as well as a three game stint with the Washington Capitals.
Hungary
While Hungary has yet to have released their roster, there has only been one single Hungarian QMJHL player and it's quite likely he makes the team -- and that is left winger Janos Hari.
Hari has suited up for the Hungarian national team since the 2011-12 season, and had competed in the earlier qualifiers last season leading the team with six points (3+3) in just 3 games. He also captained Fehervar, the sole Hungarian team in the central European based ICEHL, where he scored 57 points (19+38) in 47 games.
The 32-year old played just one season in the QMJHL in 2010-11, split between the Montreal Juniors and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. He scored 17 points (4+13) over 46 games.
Japan
Japan will be an underdog at the tournament, despite the massive leaps forward with the help of former NHL goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji and former AHLer Yushiroh Hirano.
That said, they will get additional help with the addition of former QMJHLer Yu Sato in the mix. Sato, 22, split time last season between the KHL and the VHL -- the Russian minor league. In the VHL, he registered 9 points (6+3) across 21 games between AKM Tula and Dizel Penza.
He also played five games in the KHL with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, without registering a point. The year before, he played 40 KHL games with Torpedo potting 10 points (5+5).
Sato played with the Quebec Remparts for the 2019-20 season, registering 10 points (4+6) across 39 games. He originally signed with the Glasgow Clan, but had to back out due to visa issues.
Latvia
Team Latvia, the favourite for Group E, boasts a couple QMJHLers amongst its ranks.
Starting with the recently signed Philadelphia Flyers' center Rodrigo Abols, after a 26-point (14+12) season with Rogle of the SHL.
The 28-year old played with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the 2016-17 season scoring 50 points (18+32) in 52 games, after the former Vancouver Canucks seventh rounder in 2014 was cut by the WHL's Portland Winterhawks.
Also on the team is former Olympian and Toronto Marlies left winger Martins Dzierkals.
Dzierkals played for Skelleftea of the SHL last season notching three points (2+1) in 45 games. He was once a member of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, between 2015 and 2017. There, he netted 116 points (45+71) in 106 games and won a QMJHL championship in 2015-16
Norway
Norway only features one ex-QMJHLer on their Olympic Qualifying roster but it's a major one.
It is former NHLer and legend of Norwegian hockey Patrick Thoresen. Thoresen, 40, is coming off a 64 point (22+42) season with Storhamar in Norway and will sign with Djurgardens of the Allsvenskan, the second Swedish league.
Long before then, Thoresen played two seasons in the QMJHL with the Moncton Wildcats and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar between 2001-2003, scoring 181 points (63+118) across 131 games.
Slovakia
Despite missing key talents like Juraj Slafkovsky and Erik Cernak, Slovakia is going into the tournament as the most likely team to qualify with notables including 2022 2nd overall pick Simon Nemec and NHL regulars Tomas Tatar, Martin Fehervary and Martin Pospisil. That said, their roster boasts the most QMJHLers with four of its players once hailing from the league.
Most recent of which, is 23-year old goaltender Samuel Hlavaj, who signed a deal with the Minnesota Wild in May after an impressive enough season posting a .902 save percentage over 28 games with HC Plzen of the Czech Extraliga. The numbers may seem mild, but considering that the team was third last in the league, it's not too shabby.
In the QMJHL, he carried a .907 save percentage across two seasons and 59 games with the Sherbrook Phoenix between 2019 and 2021.
Alongside Hlavaj is defender 24-year old defender Michal Ivan, who brings championship pedigree to the team having won the Slovak Extraliga in 2021, and the QMJHL championship and Memorial Cup in 2017-18 with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
Ivan played for the Titan and the Voltigeurs across his two QMJHL seasons, registering 33 points (7+26) over 102 games. Last year, Ivan played in the Czech Extraliga with Lyberic, scoring 14 points (5+9) in 51 games.
Joining them is Olympian Kristian Pospisil, brother of Martin. Pospisil played for the Armada in the 2015-16 season, netting 40 points (25+15) in 52 games.
After his QMJHL days, he would jump to the USHL before landing in the Toronto Maple Leafs system, mostly playing with the ECHL's Newfoundland Growlers and twice appearing with the AHL's Toronto Marlies where he was a point per game.
Last season, Pospisil played in the Czech Extraliga as well with Kometa Brno where he scored 35 points (17+18) across 48 games.
To round off the four, is who is perhaps Team Slovakia's most notable QMJHLer in former NHL centerman Marek Hrivik.
Hrivik -- who will turn 33 a day before the qualifiers -- is a former Calgary Flame and New York Ranger, suiting up in 24 games between the two teams and notching three assists.
Long before that, he was a member of the Moncton Wildcats for three seasons. There, he scored 204 points (93+111) over 179 games, even winning a Gilles-Courteau Trophy with the team in 2009-2010 thanks in part due to his 17-point (5+12) playoff campaign.
Last season, Hrivik played with Lesksand of the SHL --where he's been for five of the last six seasons -- scoring 26 points (15+11) over 46 games.
Slovenia
Slovenia will probably end on the outside looking in as they will be without their star forward Anze Kopitar who has chosen not to play at the tournament. That said, the team has enlisted two former QMJHL stars to help improve their chances at making it to the 2026 Olympics.
The most notable of the two is former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Jan Drozg. The 25-year old left winger played for the Shawinigan Cataractes for two seasons between 2017 and 2019, potting 112 points (37+75) over 137 games. He is a former fifth round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is contracted to Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL, where he registered 26 points (9+17) across 49 games last season.
Also representing Slovenia from the QMJHL is Luka Gomboc. Gomboc, 20, played in the QMJHL for the 2021-22 season with the Drummondville Voltigeurs notching 7 points (2+5) in 40 games. Last season he split time between EC KAC of the ICEHL and their minor league affiliate. He scored just 2 points (2+0) in 14 games with KAC.
Ukraine
Ukraine will also likely have a rough tournament, barring any surprises, as their team is fairly weak. That said, the team features two former QMJHL players on its roster that could help try to even things out.
Feliks Morozov is the one with the longest tenure in the league, spanning two seasons between 2018-2020. Morozov notched 18 points (8+10) across 78 games with the Victoriaville Tigres and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. He split time between the Swedish third division and the second French division last year. In Sweden, he registered 8 points (2+6) in 14 games, and he scored 15 points (9+6) in 13 games in France.
Alexander Peresunko, too, played for the Victoriaville Tigres, albeit in the 2019-20 season after Morozov had left the team. Peresunko recorded 31 points (8+22) in 57 games with the squad. Last year, he split time between the first and second Slovak leagues. In the second division he potted 32 points (25+7) in just 19 games with the AquaCity Pikes, and he registered 15 points (7+8) in 32 games in the Slovak Extraliga with HK Proprad. This season, he will return to the second division, signing with HC Presov.
The tournament begins on the 29th of August and will run until the 1st of September, where the winners of Groups D, E and F will join the eight other teams confirmed for the Olympics.
The only other hold out is Russia, who the IIHF has yet to make a decision on regarding its eligibility.
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