With each passing week, the decisions being mulled by the Team Canada brass ahead of the 2026 Olympic Games get a little more interesting.
About a month from now, Doug Armstrong and Co. will be nailing down the roster that will head to Italy to represent Canada in February’s best-on-best men’s tournament.
The rough sketch of what that group will look like was put on paper back in February, at the 4 Nations Face-Off. But the start of the NHL’s 2025-26 campaign has offered Armstrong and his management team plenty of food for thought, with more than a few marquee names starting strong through the first quarter of the season.
We know the majority of the group that will be there. Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sam Reinhart, Brayden Point and Cale Makar have already been named to the team. A fair number of spots throughout the rest of the roster seem as good as filled with veterans who made their presence known at 4 Nations, too. But a few changes around the fringes of the roster seem highly likely.
Last week, we looked at the biggest questions facing Team Canada’s decision-makers as they put together their Olympic roster. This week, listed by position, we hone in on the new faces that could be in the mix with a look at the Canadian standouts who didn’t get the call for 4 Nations, but might be playing their way onto the Olympic roster.
Nick Suzuki, centre
The Montreal Canadiens captain seems among the most likely non-4 Nations talents to wind up among the group heading to Italy in February. His pedigree as an elite playmaker is well-established, but it’s the 26-year-old’s 200-foot game that makes him a potential game-changer for Canada. He can contribute in all situations, take on the toughest matchups on the night and, with 23 points through 21 games this season, there’s little doubt he has the skill to pull out a moment when it’s needed most.
Tom Wilson, right wing
The Washington Capitals’ wrecking ball was missed during a 4 Nations tournament that seemed to ramp up in intensity game by game. There are few in the sport who can bring what Wilson brings — intimidating size, momentum-swinging physicality and enough offensive skill to make a meaningful impact on the scoreboard, too. The 2018 Stanley Cup winner has started 2025-26 with a point-per-game pace, putting himself alongside Suzuki as must-haves for the national team.
Mark Scheifele, centre
Scheifele was arguably the most notable omission from 4 Nations. Over the past half-decade, the Winnipeg Jets veteran has been one of the most prolific Canadian scorers in the NHL, amassing the fifth-most even-strength points and goals among his countrymen. He was the second-highest Canadian goal-scorer in the league last season, with 39. And through the early going in 2025-26, Scheifele once again ranks as a top-five even-strength scorer among Canadians. The only question here will be how many purely offensive threats Canada wants to include in its forward group.
Macklin Celebrini, centre
San Jose’s young talisman has become the most intriguing question mark for Team Canada’s management group. Through 23 games, Celebrini is third in goals (14) and second in points (34) in the league — Canadian or otherwise. He’s blossoming into an all-world scorer, and seems among the most in-form offensive talents Canada has at the moment. There’s a bigger-picture question to consider, of how much Armstrong and Co. want to lean on proven veteran talent vs. youthful potential, but Celebrini is doing all he can to make himself undeniable.
Connor Bedard, centre
Bedard is in somewhat of the same boat. The third-year Chicago leader ranks fourth in league scoring, with 31 points, and has looked just as electric to start the year. The 2023 first-overall pick is emerging as the dynamic game-changer he was expected to be, and he does have experience dominating with the maple leaf on his chest, having earned an MVP nod for his World Juniors performance a couple years back. The key question concerning Celebrini and Bedard is whether the Team Canada brass feel they’ve had enough experience in true big-game moments, or whether they need more time in the fire.
John Tavares, centre
The Toronto Maple Leafs veteran was open about his disappointment at not getting the call for 4 Nations, and the 35-year-old hasn’t been on the national team’s radar for some time. But the level Tavares has shown of late should put him back in the conversation. After finishing with 38 goals last season, the former captain has emerged as a crucial leader for a Leafs squad decimated by injuries. Through 22 games, Tavares is third in even-strength points in the league (23) and fifth in even-strength goals (10). He also remains a beast in the dot, his 60.9 face-off win percentage ranking second league-wide among all centres who regularly take draws.
Bo Horvat, centre
Count Horvat as another well-rounded veteran who’s put himself back in the conversation. Although the former Vancouver Canucks and current New York Islander doesn’t have the lengthiest international record, his start to the 2025-26 campaign is reminding the wider hockey world of what he was at his best. Through 23 games, the Isles vet is third in goals in the league (14), and is tied with Tavares for the fifth at even-strength. Also like the Maple Leafs veteran, Horvat similarly remains among the league’s best in the dot, his 59.1 per cent ranking him fifth among pivots regularly taking face-offs.
Matthew Schaefer, defence
Like Celebrini and Bedard, 18-year-old Schaefer has arrived on the big-league stage much sooner than most expected. The 2025 No. 1 pick has been in dominant form for the Islanders this season, skating 23 minutes a night and sitting just a handful back of the rookie scoring lead, with 15 points through 23 games. That said, the smooth-skating rearguard seems more of a longshot for the Olympics than the two young, high-flying forwards mentioned above for a number of reasons — he has far less experience on the NHL stage, he’s in an understandably sheltered role for the Isles, and the Canadian blue line seems far more set in stone compared to the forward corps.
Noah Dobson, defence
That said, there’s another young blue-liner with a history of dominating in Islanders colours who might just crack that Canadian blue-line — 25-year-old Dobson. The 2018 12th-overall pick made his name on Long Island with a few all-world campaigns, most notably a 2023-24 season that saw him collect 70 points, skate 24 minutes a night and earn Norris votes by the year’s end. He’s proving to be a useful, versatile talent once again in Montreal, thriving in the pure defensive aspects of the game while also collecting the sixth-most points among Canadian defenders.
Logan Thompson, goaltender
Fans were clamouring for Thompson to get the call for the national team ahead of 4 Nations, as the Washington Capitals netminder seemed the best Canadian goalie in the NHL heading into the tournament. He missed out, and Jordan Binnington performed well as the red-and-white’s No. 1. Still, Thompson finished with fourth in Vezina voting, and ranks as one of the best-performing Canadians in the cage again through the first quarter of 2025-26, so the 28-year-old should get a shot as one of the two goalies joining Binnington in Italy.
Darcy Kuemper, goaltender
Also on the fringes of that goaltending conversation ahead of 4 Nations was Kuemper, who finished as a Vezina finalist after one of the best seasons of his career. The 2022 Cup winner has championship pedigree himself, and is in fine form at the moment, with a .927 save percentage since the start of November. With Binnington a lock to return, Thompson a likely addition to the goaltending corps, and 4 Nations participant Adin Hill navigating injury issues that have kept him out since late October, Kuemper could be the next man up for the national team.
