Five Player Swaps Team Canada Must Make for it’s Olympic Roster

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy, are just over two months away, so the excitement and talk about the return of NHL players is starting to take over the hockey world. Analysts, fans, and insiders have all been mocking up their respective lineups really since the 4 Nations Face Off came to an end, and soon enough, they will all learn whether their projections were right. 

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Those rosters will be officially announced on January 1, 2026, which means players looking to push themselves onto the team have less than a month to prove their worthy.

With that date right around the corner, it only makes sense to dive into some predictions, starting with five player swaps that Team Canada has to make when it comes to their Olympic roster. 

Macklin Celebrini for Travis Konecny

Celebrini making the team would have been thought of as a nice story in the summer, but after the first two months of the 2025-26 season, the kid is an absolute lock to not only be selected for the team but be a key contributor on it. 

At 19 years old, he’s second in the league in scoring with 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists) in just 27 games, and has the Sharks in a playoff spot, which nobody saw coming. 

Konecny is a very good player who brings a lot of jam to the table, but the skill sets just don’t match here, and if Celebrini is going in, then someone has to come out. 

Connor Bedard for Seth Jarvis

The other budding young superstar who has knocked down the door and needs to be on Team Canada is Bedard. 

Like Celebrini, the 20-year-old Bedard has been extremely productive, third in league scoring with 38 points (17 goals, 21 assists) in just 26 games, while also keeping the Blackhawks in playoff contention, to the shock of many.

Jarvis, similarly to Konecny, brings a combination of skill and grit that you love to have, but the high-end skill of a Bedard is what you need to open up tight-checking games against the likes of the United States. 

Nick Suzuki for Anthony Cirelli

Suzuki probably should have made the team last year, but Canada can’t make the same mistake of leaving him off the squad again this time around.

His two-way play down the middle of the ice is so valuable, and he’s ascended into a true star in the league, showing improvement each and every season. 

Cirelli might provide slightly better defensive attributes, but Suzuki’s offensive prowess well outweighs that, making him the ideal fourth-line center behind the superstars atop the lineup. 

Jakob Chychrun for Travis Sanheim

Very few have increased their stock through the first 25+ games of the 2025-26 season than Chychrun.

His 10 goals from the blueline lead all NHL defensemen, while his 23 points rank fifth at the position. How can you not bring this guy to Milan?

Sanheim is a solid two-way minute muncher on the back end, but Team Canada already has enough of that. What they need is more offensive pop from their defense corps, which Chychrun is one of the best in the world at bringing. 

Tom Wilson for Mark Stone

Wilson is another Washington Capital who has played his way onto the Olympic team, not just this season, but with his play over the last several years.

Those who think he’s just going to be out there to stand up to the Tkachuk brothers are wrong. Wilson can absolutely play and would be the perfect bottom-six and penalty-killing forward for Canada. 

Trusting Stone to stay healthy is almost impossible at this point, and if they’re taking out the grit of a Konecny, they’ve got to fill that void elsewhere with an even more formidable force in Wilson.

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