With it being announced that NHL players will be participating in the 2026 and 2030 Olympics, that brings with it an interesting conversation as to which players from the Edmonton Oilers will represent their countries in the first time going since 2014. There are some elite level talent from around the league that have never got the opportunity to represent their countries at the Olympics and have barely even experienced nation best-on-best. They will have the chance soon and there should be a number of Oilers representing.
Team Canada
The Oilers have 17 Canadians on their active roster and should have multiple representatives going to the Olympics for Team Canada. This is highlighted by the most obvious and best player in the world, Connor McDavid. He was drafted in 2015, one year after the NHL last went to the Winter Olympics and competed, so he never got the chance to play with the likes of Sidney Crosby and others. McDavid is not only going to make the team, he is going to be the number one center and likely play the most among the forwards. In just eight seasons in the NHL, the Oilers’ captain has five Art Ross Trophies, has hit 100 points six times (every full season he’s played), has three Hart Trophies, four Ted Lindsay Awards, and a Rocket Richard Trophy. It is a no-brainer that he will be on Team Canada, I just had to mention it (from “Unnumbered Thoughts: Connor McDavid has taken his spot as NHL’s premier power player”, EP Rinkside, Feb. 4, 2024).
Sticking with forwards, Zach Hyman seems like the perfect complement to McDavid. He is great at playing in front of the net on the power play, even though he may not get the opportunity on an amazing team like Team Canada will be. Hyman has also gained great chemistry with the Oilers’ captain on the top line and currently sits sixth in the league in goals (30) in only 44 games played, five fewer than 4/5 players with more goals this season to this point. Hyman may not just be chosen because he brings the type of chemistry and level of play that Chris Kunitz brought to Crosby at the 2014 Olympics, Hyman is proving that he should actually be on the team because of his production and effectiveness all over the ice.
I don’t think there is a great chance we see Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at the Olympics playing for Team Canada, but he should be invited or be in the mix. He does also have chemistry with McDavid and is a strong two-way player, but there are a lot of very good players to choose from. His 37-goal, 104-point season in 2022-23 wasn’t a fluke, but it is also not likely he comes within 15-20 points of that again in his career. In two years he will be 32 years old. Age may start to get to him, but he thinks the game very well and is effective.
Shifting over to defence, there are two on the Oilers to watch for. Evan Bouchard has really broken out offensively and ranks fifth in the league among defencemen in points-per-game (0.96) this season. That puts him third among Canadians as well behind Cale Makar and Noah Dobson. Bouchard is proving to be an elite offensive producer, but he has also been improving his all around game beside Mattias Ekholm for the past full season. It is no guarantee that Bouchard will make Team Canada because there are a lot of talented Canadian defenders and the general manager/coaches might want a couple of defencemen that are elite in their own end as well.
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Darnell Nurse is the other Oilers’ defenceman that should definitely be considered when it comes time to pick the roster. Some may criticize him for being overpaid, but not many recognize the huge impact he has in games. Bob Stauffer noted that since the start of the 2020-21 season among defencemen, Nurse ranks seventh in goals (47), third in even-strength goals (36), first in shorthanded goals (5), seventh in overtime goals (3), 17th in even-strength points (107), eighth in plus/minus (+81), and tied in 16th in average time on ice (24:13). Those are the numbers of a number one defenceman in the NHL, even though he doesn’t get the offensive opportunity on the power-play like many others ranking above or around him. He is big, physical, can close the gap quickly with his reach, and plays hard at all times.
The final option that Team Canada will have to decide on is goaltenders. Nobody is quite certain which goalies will be chosen at this time. While two years can make a huge difference, none have proven without a doubt to be elite like that of Team U.S.A.’s. That being said, Stuart Skinner has been the hottest goalie in the NHL over the past two months. Since Nov. 24, 2023, the Oilers’ starter is 19-2-0 with a .935 save percentage (SV%) and two shutouts. That is by far the best numbers in the league over that span and the time span in which he has performed at this high of a level proves he can do it consistently and it isn’t just a hot streak. Three goalies are taken, and if Team Canada was being chosen right now, it wouldn’t be a bad assumption to say Skinner would be the starter. He will be 27 at the time of the Olympics and right in his prime.
Team Germany
Leon Draisaitl is by far the best German-born player to play in the NHL. He has 329 goals and 801 points in his career, while the next closest German is Marco Sturm with 242 goals and 487 points in 250 more games played. Germany is on the rise with players like Tim Stutzle, Moritz Seider, and JJ Peterka also coming out of there, but Draisaitl will likely be the captain and the leading force on that team. When you think of Germany internationally in hockey, you think of Draisaitl. He is in his prime now and will still be in his prime in two years time.
Team Sweden
The Oilers have two Swedish-born players on their roster, Ekholm and Mattias Janmark. Team Sweden is going to be a good team and this nation produces very talented defencemen. It just so happens that one of the best is on the Oilers in Ekholm. He will be 35 years old by the time the Olympics happen, but that doesn’t mean he will decline a ton defensively. He isn’t known for or expected to produce offensively, even though he can.
Ekholm is fifth in points among active Swedish defencemen in the NHL, and all four ahead of him may have question marks in front of them due to age or health. Those being Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and John Klingberg. A few younger defencemen will also be in the mix, but Ekholm plays a very strong defensive game and is physical. Even at 35, I think he will bring a similar element to what he brings right now and can be a big part of that team.
Ideally, eight Oilers will represent their countries at the 2026 Olympics, but more realistically, a few less than that. There are two absolute locks in McDavid and Draisaitl with the rest having medium to good chances at competing. I don’t see any other players stepping up and becoming superstars on the Oilers in the next two years to be able to take a spot away from any of the top-end talent that will fill the roster of their teams. As long as the Oilers continue to win and play great, more and more attention will be given to them and some should have better claims to spots on their respective international teams.