With the announcement that NHL players will be participating in the 2026 and 2030 Olympics, many are curious about which players will earn the opportunity to represent their home country. This will be the first time since 2014 that NHL players will be heading to the Olympics, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have plenty of talent who could earn the chance to play on the big stage. Let’s look at which players from the Maple Leafs have a chance to represent.
Team Canada
One of the early favourites heading into the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan is Team Canada, who will have an extremely strong lineup. One player from the Maple Leafs who seems like a lock to represent Canada is Mitch Marner. hE has been consistently lethal offensively over the past several seasons AND is well over a point-per-game pace with the Maple Leafs this season. He’s proving his worth as a potential offensive powerhouse in Canada’s top-six forward group. As one of the best playmakers in the NHL, Marner making it onto the team should be a guarantee.
Two more players on the Maple Leafs could have opportunities to make the team and could end up making it onto the roster. But they currently sit on the outside looking in and will have to elevate their play if they want to beat out some other Canadians who have been having stronger seasons recently. Those two are forward John Tavares and Morgan Rielly, who are both huge parts of the Maple Leafs and will continue to provide value into the postseason, but with how strong Team Canada is expected to be, they will have to play well for the next two seasons to earn the chance to represent their home country.
Related: Toronto Maple Leafs History of Black Hockey Players
Tavares is a veteran in the NHL with 1077 games played at the time of this article, with over 1000 points throughout his career. He has been a huge part of the Maple Leafs since joining the team in free agency in the 2018-19 season after a lengthy start in his career with the New York Islanders. Rielly is a shutdown defender who has been the Maple Leafs’ number-one defenceman for several seasons. He has a veteran of 767 games and, this season with the Maple Leafs, has averaged over 24 minutes of ice time per game.
Tony Wolak, another writer at The Hockey Writers, didn’t have Rielly or Tavares on the projected roster for Canada but has Marner penciled into the first line alongside Brayden Point and Connor McDavid.
Team USA
Team USA is expected to be a powerhouse heading into the 2026 Olympics, and rightfully so. They have one of the strongest lineups, as seen in The Hockey Writers’ projected lineup, and it’s led by Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews. As one of, if not the greatest goal scorer in the NHL today, Matthews has been a massive part of the Leafs’ recent success and has already surpassed the 40-goal mark this season with 35 games remaining. Placing him alongside other lethal players in a best-on-best competition will only prove how good Matthews is against the best in the world.
Matthews is on pace to have a 70-goal season with the Maple Leafs, which would break his record of 60 that he hit back in the 2021-22 season. He is a lethal offensive player who will be able to showcase himself even more on the Olympic stage. Barring a monumental falloff, Matthews is a lock to be on the first line with Team USA in 2026.
Team Sweden
Team Sweden is expected to have a strong team on the Olympic stage in 2026, and the Maple Leafs have a player who will likely be on their first line in William Nylander. He recently signed a massive eight-year extension with the Maple Leafs and has been a big part of the team’s success. He’s on pace to shatter his record of 87 points, as he sits on a pace to hit 106 points in 82 games. Sweden will be considered an underdog compared to Canada and the USA, but Nylander could help them surprise everyone and give them a strong push for second or third place.
Team Czechia
Czechia shocked the world when they took down Canada at the U20 World Junior Championship last month. They have slowly been growing as a hockey country and will be looking to prove their worth at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The Maple Leafs have one player right now, David Kampf, who could squeak onto Czechia’s roster if he can elevate his play. He provides a lot of value to a team’s bottom-six forward group, and he could be a strong player with Czechia should they choose to bring him in. He is by no means guaranteed to make the team, but he has a chance to earn it by then.
Ideally, the Maple Leafs will have a few representatives at the 2026 Olympics. Matthews, Marner, and Nylander are locks to represent their respective home countries, while Kampf, Tavares, and Reilly are on the outside looking in. I don’t see any other players stepping up and becoming superstars on the Maple Leafs in the next two seasons to be able to take a spot away from any of the top-end talent that will fill the roster of their teams unless Matthew Knies has an extremely strong 2024-25 season and squeaks onto Team USA.
Either way, there is quite a bit of talent on the Maple Leafs roster who have the opportunity to represent their home country. Hopefully, these players can continue to play consistently well and help their home countries bring back a medal.
