NHL players will return to the Winter Olympics, beginning with the 2026 Games in Milan, Italy. They are also confirmed to participate in the 2030 Winter Olympics as well. If anyone is excited, it should be Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. The Olympics have evaded him his whole career, but perhaps he might finally get the chance to play while he’s still lacing up his skates.
Wait, So Stamkos Hasn’t Played in the Olympics?
This is correct. However, it’s mainly been bad luck and poor timing that has kept him out. The exception is the 2010 Vancouver Olympics when he was in the reserves. Other than that, he didn’t play because other players were prioritized over him.
Stamkos was supposed to play in the 2014 Sochi Olympics but was kept out by a leg injury. His then-teammate, Martin St. Louis, would replace him; Stamkos did receive an Olympic ring from Team Canada after they won the Gold Medal.
Since then, the NHL has not sent its players to the Olympics. In 2018, the NHL chose not to participate due to costs and scheduling. The players were supposed to participate back in 2022, but the league pulled out six weeks before the start of the games. COVID-19 breakouts required the NHL to use what was supposed to be the Olympic break to make up games that had been postponed.
When asked about the reversal back in December 2021, Stamkos, who was likely bound for Beijing, expressed his displeasure.
“Obviously, this year, with what’s going on in the world, it’s a little more understandable,” Stamkos said. “But the last Olympics where we weren’t able to go because of different issues with the NHL. Now it just stings even more knowing that for some of the older guys, this is probably their last chance.”
Even if he’s talking about the “older guys” in this statement, the then-31-year-old had himself in mind in that statement, too. A quote from Sept. 20, 2021, backs this up.
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“I feel like I’ve missed my prime chance, and now this is probably the last chance to represent your country.” (from ‘Steven Stamkos on his health, his ‘last chance’ at Olympics and Lightning window,’ The Athletic, Sept. 20, 2021).
Now, Stamkos is 34 years old and will be 36 when the next Olympics rolls around. He’s getting up there in age, and it’s understandable why he has his doubts that any future Olympics will include him. But there’s no reason to give up hope just yet. If he’s still playing, and he should still be playing, he’s got a shot.
The Case for Stamkos to Represent Canada
So, why should Stamkos play for Team Canada over somebody else?
Here’s the main argument: Stamkos provides a strong veteran presence that can still contribute on the scoresheet. He is also specifically a Canadian player who can still be a key member. But why do either of these points matter? Stamkos isn’t one of the best players in the league anymore, and much of the NHL is Canadian — 41.7 percent, to be exact. Fair enough. Don’t worry, though. We got a rebuttal.
Let’s look at some of the top players in the league. To keep it simple, we’ll use forwards who are ahead of Stamkos in points at the time of this article’s publishing. Stamkos is 32nd in points among forwards. That’s a solid number of players ahead of him to choose from, right? Not quite.
Let’s remove the non-Canadian forwards who have more points than Stamkos:
- Nikita Kucherov (Russia)
- David Pastrnak (Czechia)
- JT Miller (USA)
- Artemi Panarin (Russia)
- Mikko Rantanen (Finland)
- Elias Pettersson (Sweden)
- William Nylander (Sweden)
- Auston Matthews (USA)
- Leon Draisaitl (Germany)
- Sebastian Aho (Finland)
- Brock Boeser (USA)
- Jesper Bratt (Sweden)
- Filip Forsberg (Sweden)
- Matthew Tkachuk (USA)
- Jake Guentzel (USA)
- Jason Robertson (USA)
- Aleksander Barkov (Finland)
- Dylan Larkin (USA)
- Roope Hintz (Finland)
Yeah, that removes a lot of players.
At 34 years old, Stamkos is still 13th in points among Canadian forwards and is 11th in goals. Even if you factor in young players like Connor Bedard, Stamkos is still in the mix. Barring the rise of multiple Canadians in the next couple of years, Stamkos will be heading to Milan. The veteran experience and his overall production remain valuable.
Health is also going to be a factor. While Stamkos would’ve been healthy for the last two Olympics, that was then. There is a precedent that can’t be ignored. It’s still going to hang over his head until it can’t. What we mean by until it can’t is when he’s dressed and playing for Team Canada in the 2026 Winter Olympics. Time will tell here, but if we have to point to health, it says quite a bit about his skillsets. We have to look beyond skill to find what could keep him out.
It can be said with high confidence that Stamkos, at last, will get his chance when the time comes in just two years. We can almost guarantee there will be an extra level of special to his first appearance. There will be one thought racing through his head, and it will be a single word: Finally.
