Who Would Make Canada's Roster If There Was Olympics This Year?

[therealdeal]

Crosby has to hang on for two more years!

Crosby-McDavid-MacKinnon-Bedards down the middle. Let’s fricken goooooooooo boys!!

 

[1Gold Standard]

Finally! Nice! Olympics Baby!

 

[Eternal Leaf]

I'm hoping Bedard takes a huge jump next season.

That forward core + Makar is going to be an incredible sight once they start buzzing around.

 

[Nucks2001]

I'm hoping Bedard takes a huge jump next season.

That forward core + Makar is going to be an incredible sight once they start buzzing around.

Bedard looked like he was poised for a 85-90 point season before his injury. He’s so special and hungry. He’ll be better than Crosby by 2026, don’t you worry about that

 

[Mathieukferland]

I'm hoping Bedard takes a huge jump next season.

That forward core + Makar is going to be an incredible sight once they start buzzing around.

He’s already much better than I thought; on a playoff team he puts up a hundred points and should be playing in Canada’s top 6. Think he’s already a top 30 player in the league and hopefully next year he can take a step towards the top 10

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Marchand-McDavid-Crosby
Marner-MacKinnon-Stamkos
Barzal-Point-Bedard
Hyman-Horvat-Stone
Reinhart-Thomas

Toews-Makar
Morrissey-Dobson
Theodore-Doughty
Chabot

Jarry
Hill
Ingram

Best group of forwards. Arguably best defense too. Goalies are a weakness. I don't think they are that bad. Like these are guys that can definitely compete with the goalies for the top countries in a one-off game, but most likely Canada goes in with a disadvantage against any of them in that area. Also, surprisingly a very small team. Only like 3 or 4 skaters taller than 6'1, but I still think this is the favorite.

 

[Nucks2001]

Marchand-McDavid-Crosby
Marner-MacKinnon-Stamkos
Barzal-Point-Bedard
Hyman-Horvat-Stone
Reinhart-Thomas

Toews-Makar
Morrissey-Dobson
Theodore-Doughty
Chabot

Jarry
Hill
Ingram

Best group of forwards. Arguably best defense too. Goalies are a weakness. I don't think they are that bad. Like these are guys that can definitely compete with the goalies for the top countries in a one-off game, but most likely Canada goes in with a disadvantage against any of them in that area. Also, surprisingly a very small team. Only like 3 or 4 skaters taller than 6'1, but I still think this is the favorite.

Would rather have Verhaege as a trigger-man than Stamkos at this point in their careers. Other than that the team looks good. Byfield and McTavish are players to look out for on the come-up.

 

[GhostfaceWu]

In no world should Chabot be on an Olympic team.

 

[GhostfaceWu]

Leaving off Robert Thomas who’s ahead of guys like Crosby, ROR, Barzal, Stone, Hyman in points is… bold. Other selections seem great. ROR has been having a revelation in Nashville this season and would still be effective in a shutdown role. I like the inclusion.

Ekblad? I’d honestly have Doughty over him. I’d have Rielly higher than him on the depth chart as well. Chabot and Dunn are more viable offensive options that could be considered. Weegar should also get some consideration.

Hyman has 13 more goals and 5 less points in 5 less games lol coming up with his add to your post is......bold.

 

[Mathieukferland]

 

[Nucks2001]

View attachment 814469

Not much to argue with this one. Think Bedard would be more effective on the wing and we have better defencemen than Rielly.

 

[Nucks2001]

Hyman has 13 more goals and 5 less points in 5 less games lol coming up with his add to your post is......bold.

Hyman is a great complementary piece to McDavid or a bottom 6 group, but Robert Thomas is arguably one of the best Canadian passers right now.

I’d argue that Crosby, McDavid, Marner and MacKinnon are the only better pure passers than Thomas on the team. You combine that with his age, ability to play centre and two-way play and I think he makes the roster.

 

[GhostfaceWu]

Hyman is a great complementary piece to McDavid or a bottom 6 group, but Robert Thomas is arguably one of the best Canadian passers right now.

I’d argue that Crosby, McDavid, Marner and MacKinnon are the only better pure passers than Thomas on the team. You combine that with his age, ability to play centre and two-way play and I think he makes the roster.

Lol and Hyman right now is one of the best Canadian goal scorers so again I say odd inclusion to your post just you can big up Thomas. 66 goals in his last season and half.

 

[Mathieukferland]

Adin Hill keeps playing like he did last night and I don’t think there’s any need to worry about goaltending

 

[gsharpe]

Just wanted to talk about goaltending but it looks like it's been covered a lot. I don't think I'm all that worried. I understand that US is outrageous and Russia has great options but we just need one goalie to get hot. One of Ingram, Hill, Thomspon, or Broissoit should be just find to get us through the tournament.

I'm very happy with the defense and I think our forward corps can all backcheck effectively. I like our chances like every year. But damn!! Need to actually play the games to see.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Last time they were also worried about Canada's goaltending, but than Carey Price decided it was time to become a God, and his legendary peak began there

 

[dalewood12]

Goaltending is such a crap shoot. Skinner, Jarry, Hill?

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

Franchise goalies like Price, Fleury, Luongo, Brodeur are terribly missed in hockey.

GK J.Binnington
GK A.Hill
GK S.Skinner
RD C.Makar
RD N.Dobson
RD E.Bouchard
RD D.Hamilton
LD S.Theodore
LD V.Dunn
LD O.Power
LD T.Harley
RW N.McKinnon
RW M.Marner
RW M.Barzal
RW R.Thomas
LW Z.Hyman
LW S.Stamkos
LW B.Marchand
CE D.McDavid
CE B.Point
CE S.Crosby
CE C.Bedard
CE M.Scheifele
FW M.Stone

Lowest potential Canadian team in hockey history


Before, there were so many elite players that it was difficult to choose. There, I had to ask myself the question: is he an elite 2026 player?

 

[Nucks2001]

Franchise goalies like Price, Fleury, Luongo, Brodeur are terribly missed in hockey.

GK J.Binnington
GK A.Hill
GK S.Skinner
RD C.Makar
RD N.Dobson
RD E.Bouchard
RD D.Hamilton
LD S.Theodore
LD V.Dunn
LD O.Power
LD T.Harley
RW N.McKinnon
RW M.Marner
RW M.Barzal
RW R.Thomas
LW Z.Hyman
LW S.Stamkos
LW B.Marchand
CE D.McDavid
CE B.Point
CE S.Crosby
CE C.Bedard
CE M.Scheifele
FW M.Stone

Lowest potential Canadian team in hockey history


Before, there were so many elite players that it was difficult to choose. There, I had to ask myself the question: is he an elite 2026 player?

Some weak draft years in 2016-2018, while the USA had their best drafts in those years.

We still have two of the best forwards in the game in McDavid and Mack, the best defenceman in Makar and the greatest all-around player in Crosby. Point, Marner, Thomas, Barzal are all very good options as well. Older guard is still performing well in Stamkos and Marchand. Had Laf and Byfield broken out sooner, I don’t think we’d be having this conversation. Fantilli, Bedard, Benson, Power, Celebrini are all paving the way for Canada’s future atm

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

Some weak draft years in 2016-2018, while the USA had their best drafts in those years.

We still have two of the best forwards in the game in McDavid and Mack, the best defenceman in Makar and the greatest all-around player in Crosby. Point, Marner, Thomas, Barzal are all very good options as well. Older guard is still performing well in Stamkos and Marchand. Had Laf and Byfield broken out sooner, I don’t think we’d be having this conversation. Fantilli, Bedard, Benson, Power, Celebrini are all paving the way for Canada’s future atm

Before Canada had the best everywhere, top and bottom - all the names were a dream. It was a true Dream Team.

 

[Mathieukferland]

There, I had to ask myself the question: is he an elite 2026 player?

You don’t think there are any elite players?

 

[JackSlater]

Before Canada had the best everywhere, top and bottom - all the names were a dream. It was a true Dream Team.

It's true, there have been plenty of tounaments where Canada walked in with the best options at every position, and even that didn't always result in a win. As things stand for 2026 the team should be good but not overwhelming. It's a result of many generally underwhelming drafts in the 2010s, at least compared to Canada's drafts the decade prior. Not unlike how the 90s drafts were a lot weaker for Canada than the 1980s drafts, and how the 1980s players carried relevance even into the 2000s at the best on best level.

It's nice that McDavid is the best player in hockey and that MacKinnon and Makar are in the group of the five next best players, but depth is nothing special. It will be interesting to see how Crosby, having a good season this year, looks in 2026. I think it's a give he'll be there but it's great if he's a valuable contributor too. I wouldn't completely rule out one of Pietrangelo or Doughty making it either.

Good news is that Morrissey seems to have taken a leap to roughly a top ten defenceman in the league and I've always been high on Dobson and I like how he is trading. In 2008 Canada's top level defence looked a bit lacking, but Doughty, Keith, and Weber all took a leap soon after ad by 2010 Canada's defence was loaded. You'd love to see another defenceman take a leap by 2026 but I'm not confident in someone like Byram or Power suddenly playing up to their potential in a year and a half, or Ekblad going on one of his hot years, but you never know.

The forward group is hurt by some high picks not panning out as elite players by this point. You just have to build around McDavid on one line, MacKinnon on another, and hope that Bedard, who provides something different that the typical elite Canadian forward, develops as hoped into a top ten forward by 2026. Maybe you get a nice surprise from a McTavish or Fantilli or Byfield by 2026 as well, or someone like Marchand hangs on to be a solid contributor in his mid 30s.

Goaltendig is a problem, as has been known for a long time. A strong team can compensate for that but the skaters are not as strong as you'd like. On the positive side though a Canadian power play with Makar on the point, MacKinnon and McDavid on the boards with Point in the bumper, and pretty much anyone in front of the net should be ridiculous.

 

[Nucks2001]

It's true, there have been plenty of tounaments where Canada walked in with the best options at every position, and even that didn't always result in a win. As things stand for 2026 the team should be good but not overwhelming. It's a result of many generally underwhelming drafts in the 2010s, at least compared to Canada's drafts the decade prior. Not unlike how the 90s drafts were a lot weaker for Canada than the 1980s drafts, and how the 1980s players carried relevance even into the 2000s at the best on best level.

It's nice that McDavid is the best player in hockey and that MacKinnon and Makar are in the group of the five next best players, but depth is nothing special. It will be interesting to see how Crosby, having a good season this year, looks in 2026. I think it's a give he'll be there but it's great if he's a valuable contributor too. I wouldn't completely rule out one of Pietrangelo or Doughty making it either.

Good news is that Morrissey seems to have taken a leap to roughly a top ten defenceman in the league and I've always been high on Dobson and I like how he is trading. In 2008 Canada's top level defence looked a bit lacking, but Doughty, Keith, and Weber all took a leap soon after ad by 2010 Canada's defence was loaded. You'd love to see another defenceman take a leap by 2026 but I'm not confident in someone like Byram or Power suddenly playing up to their potential in a year and a half, or Ekblad going on one of his hot years, but you never know.

The forward group is hurt by some high picks not panning out as elite players by this point. You just have to build around McDavid on one line, MacKinnon on another, and hope that Bedard, who provides something different that the typical elite Canadian forward, develops as hoped into a top ten forward by 2026. Maybe you get a nice surprise from a McTavish or Fantilli or Byfield by 2026 as well, or someone like Marchand hangs on to be a solid contributor in his mid 30s.

Goaltendig is a problem, as has been known for a long time. A strong team can compensate for that but the skaters are not as strong as you'd like. On the positive side though a Canadian power play with Makar on the point, MacKinnon and McDavid on the boards with Point in the bumper, and pretty much anyone in front of the net should be ridiculous.

Spot on. It’s not like Canada doesn’t have any depth either. Robert Thomas, Barzal, Marner and Point supplement the generational core of McDavid, MacKinnon, Crosby and Bedard. I also think a high-stakes shooter like Verhaege will be huge for Canada. You also have a plethora of two-way forwards, which are important in best-on-bests in Stone, Marchand, Horvat, Konecny, Danault and Reinhart

It’s just that the Americans have better scoring depth this time around due to poor Canadian drafting in the late 2010s. Byfield, McTavish, Fantillli and Celebrini are paving the way for the future.

 

[HFpapi]

Before Canada had the best everywhere, top and bottom - all the names were a dream. It was a true Dream Team.

Previous gold medal winning iterations of team Canada have had guys like Peca, Brewer, Smyth, Bouwmeester, Hamuis, Seabrook, Kunitz, Morrow, Vlasic, Sharp, Gagne and so on.

All very good players but not all-time greats or guys that look like a "dream team" in retrospect.

I don't think the lower end of our roster is any worse than previous. Guys like Thomas, Stone, Barzal, Reinhart, Scheifele etc likely go down as better players than the likes of Sharp, Morrow, Gagne etc.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

Previous gold medal winning iterations of team Canada have had guys like Peca, Brewer, Smyth, Bouwmeester, Hamuis, Seabrook, Kunitz, Morrow, Vlasic, Sharp, Gagne and so on.

All very good players but not all-time greats or guys that look like a "dream team" in retrospect.

I don't think the lower end of our roster is any worse than previous. Guys like Thomas, Stone, Barzal, Reinhart, Scheifele etc likely go down as better players than the likes of Sharp, Morrow, Gagne etc.

Yes on an official roster, there have always been guys like Matthew Peca but here, I am making the list of the best possible team.
In 2002, rather than Peca, Canada could field these 14 forwards : Le Mieux, Sakic, Lindros, Thornton, Iginla, Oates, Francis, Shanahan, Bertuzzi, Yzerman, Nolan, Brunette, Brind'Amour, Kariya, Saint-Louis, Robitaille, Gilmour, Doan, Recchi, Heatley, Whitney, Nieuwendyk, Fleury...
DEF : Pronger, Niedermayer, Blake, McInnis, Jovanovski, Boyle, Foote

GK : Brodeur, Luongo, Roy... now it's Hill, Skinner, Binnington

When I played NHL 13, the best possible Canadian players were rated 88 minimum. Now there are guys at 85 who can be there. There are far fewer Canadians in the top 100 best players in the world than before.