Four Winnipeg Jets — Kyle Connor, Connor Hellebuyck, Josh Morrissey, and Nino Niederreiter — took part in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
The men’s hockey tournament, which featured NHL involvement for the first time since 2014 and more than lived up to the hype, was a mixed bag for the four. Here, we’ll take a look at how they did on hockey’s biggest international stage in best-on-best play.
Kyle Connor (United States)
Connor’s Olympics didn’t go as he hoped. After being held off the scoresheet in the team’s first two preliminary games versus Latvia and Denmark, the left winger was scratched the rest of the way.
While Connor will be going home with a gold medal, his overall experience — being sidelined after a little bit of a slow start despite his elite offensive talent — was eerily similar to his experience at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, where played a limited role and was also scratched for the final in favour of Chris Kreider, who has much less offensive talent.
It appears, for whatever reason, the United States brass — and specifically, Mike Sullivan, head coach at both events — has him on a very short leash compared to other players.
Ideally, Connor will not let how the Olympics went ruin the rest of what’s been a strong season for him (25 goals and 64 points in 56 games.)
Connor Hellebuyck (United States)
Hellebuyck was the reason the United States won the gold medal, full stop.
The goaltender was simply outstanding when the lights shone the biggest, making 41 saves — many of the 10-bell variety — and even getting the secondary assist on Jack Hughes’ overtime golden goal.
Jets fans, the vast majority undoubtedly cheering for Canada, are probably a little frustrated after watching the legacy-making performance and wondering: where was that Hellebuyck in the past few playoffs for their team?
Related: 3 Takeaways From USA’s 2-1 Gold Medal Win Over Canada
The reigning Hart Trophy winner and three-time and reigning Vezina Trophy winner’s profound struggles in the postseason and generally in games of similar magnitude have been well documented; additionally, he’s been only average this season with a 2.79 goals against average (GAA), .900 save percentage (SV%), and 13-16-7 record.
Hellebuyck got his hackles up when asked about his reputation.
“Those critics, they can keep writing,” he said postgame. “But they don’t understand goaltending. They definitely don’t understand my game. I know what I’m putting forward. I know what I’m building. These are the moments that prove it — not that I need to, but these are the moments I enjoy and this is why I play the game.” (From ‘”I felt I was doing everything right”: Hellebuyck leads USA to gold,’ Winnipeg Free Press, Feb. 22, 2026.)
While Hellebuyck saved the best for last, he was rock solid all tournament for the undefeated United States squad that captured their first gold medal since 1980, posting a 5-0-0 record, 1.18 GAA, .956 SV%, and stopping 5.92 goals above expected.
Josh Morrissey (Canada)
Unfortunately for the Jets’ elite defenseman, he suffered an undisclosed upper-body injury in Canada’s opening preliminary game versus Czechia on Feb. 12 that kept him out of the rest of the tournament.
He was expected to play a top-four role on Canada’s blue line — and started on the second pairing that game — but played just 7:30 before exiting. He skated a few times thereafter, but never got back into game action.
“In the end if you’re not physically able to do it — and the one selfless thing about this team and the way I’ve watched these players … when it comes to the flag, nobody’s getting in the way,” head coach Jon Cooper said Saturday after confirming Morrissey would miss the gold-medal game.
“If they’re not capable of giving what they think is optimal effort, they don’t want to put the country at harm. They understand what we have here. Josh, in the end, he just wouldn’t be able to perform at what he could. We made the decision.” (from ‘Morrissey ruled out for gold medal game,’ Winnipeg Free Press, Feb. 21, 2026).
It was just more bad luck for Morrissey, who was also not able to play in the 4 Nations final due to coming down with a nasty flu virus.
Nino Niederreiter (Switzerland)
Niederreiter, who served as an alternate captain for Switzerland and was also one of his country’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony, was held off the scoresheet in the team’s three preliminary games and in the qualifying match but struck for his first-ever Olympic goal in the quarterfinal game against Finland.
The veteran forward’s first-period marker gave Switzerland a two-goal lead, but Finland came back to snag a 3-2 overtime win and eliminate the Swiss. Overall, he finished the tournament with a goal, two penalty minutes, and a minus-3 rating.
“Proud to have represented Switzerland at the Olympics,” Niederreiter wrote on social media. “Not the result we hoped for, but grateful for every moment wearing this jersey.
“Scoring my first Olympic goal was special — thanks to everyone for all the support throughout the tournament” he continued. “Back to work. The season’s far from over.”
The Jets are back in action Wednesday Feb. 25 when they face the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver.
