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2026 Winter Olympics Men's Hockey: Medal Odds & Gold Medal Predictions
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The 2025-26 National Hockey League season is on pause, but there will be plenty of pros from the NHL on display at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. In fact, it's the first time that NHL players have competed in the tournament since the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
In 2018, the Olympic Athletes from Russia won gold at Pyeongchang, with Germany taking silver, and Canada winning bronze. In 2022, Finland won gold, with the Russian Olympians winning silver and Slovakia securing bronze. However, all of that is out the window with NHL players back. The last time the pros were on the ice, Canada won gold at Sochi, with Sweden winning silver and Finland winning bronze. Team USA's last medal was in 2010 in Vancouver, losing to Canada in the final to secure silver. Finland has medaled in four of the past five Olympics, pros or otherwise.
The opening ceremony takes place Friday, and the women's tournament is already underway. Group play for the men gets underway on Wednesday, Feb. 11, with Group B play featuring Slovakia and Finland, while Sweden and host nation Italy get going on Wednesday as well. Team Canada opens its tournament Thursday, Feb. 12, as does Team USA.
Team USA - Gold Medal Winner (+210)
*All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Unlike the women's game, which has two distinct favorites, and several other nations chasing bronze, the men's tournament should be a bit more wide open. Still, Team USA appears to be the cream of the crop, despite not entering as the tournament favorite.
The difference for Team USA will likely be in net in net. The trio of defending Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman is much deeper than Canada, who have Jordan Binnington, Darcy Kuemper and Logan Thompson. If Canada is smart, the team will lean heavily upon Kuemper, but it's a rapid-fire event, and all three goaltenders will be needed. While there is some debate about Swayman and his effectiveness, he is perfectly fine as a No. 3.
On offense, Team USA is littered with NHL All-Stars. Forwards Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk give the American side plenty of scoring, as well as some grit. Team USA has speed to burn as well, with the diminutive Jake Guentzel, Matt Boldy, Kyle Connor and Tage Thompson.
On defense, no one in the NHL is more steady than Jaccob Slavin, and he'll be relied upon heavily. Zach Werenski is also a budding superstar, and Jake Sanderson tends to fly under the radar in Ottawa. Jackson LaCombe was a late addition, replacing Seth Jones, and there might be some questions about him, but LaCombe is likely going to be on third defensive pairing, if he plays at all. With Brock Faber, Noah Hanifin, Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy also on the roster, LaCombe's playing time might be hard to come by.
This is essentially the same team which lost to Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off last season, but the United States barely lost. The final was epic, and it's expected that these teams will square off for all the marbles again. Team USA is a much better value for the opportunity to double up.
Don't make any bets on your favorite sports betting apps without first consulting the latest NHL odds.
Team Canada - Gold Medal Winner (+120)
Again, I don't love Canada's goaltending trio and feel as though the team will need to ride Kuemper if it wishes to win gold in Italy.
Canada had some late roster jockeying, but the injury replacements might be better options. Seth Jarvis replaces Brayden Point, while Sam Bennett takes the place of Anthony Cirelli, who was injured in the Stadium Series game at Raymond James Stadium against the Boston Bruins last Sunday.
The offense for Canada is going to be tough to handle. Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, etc. highlight the offense, and there isn't a precipitous drop-off after the top-six forwards. Macklin Celebrini is in Milan, and Brandon Hagel, Brad Marchand, Mitch Marner, Nick Suzuki show the depth.
On defense, Cale Makar is obviously a stud, as is his teammate Devon Toews, but I like Team USA a bit more. Drew Doughty is a little long in the tooth, and while Shea Theodore is fine, Thomas Harley, Josh Morrissey, Colton Parayko and Travis Sanheim aren't stellar options.
Don't make any bets on your favorite sports betting apps without first consulting the latest NHL odds.
Sweden - Bronze Medal Winner (+350)
At first, I considered Team Finland (+490) for the bronze medal, but Sweden is a lot better from top to bottom.
In fact, Finland has some injury issues, and it cannot easily replace players like Team USA or Canada. Aleksander Barkov is a huge loss for Finland, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is replaced by the shakier Joonas Korpisalo. While Finland has Mikko Rantanen and plenty of NHL players, it isn't nearly as deep as Sweden.
Sweden boasts stud forwards with Filip Forsberg, Elias Lindholm, Adrian Kempe, William Nylander, Elias Pettersson and Mika Zibanejad, while Lucas Raymond and Gabriel Landeskog are also strong options.
Defensively, Rasmus Dahlin and Victor Hedman anchor the blueliners, but the team has a deep unit with the aging, but still dangerous Erik Karlsson, Gustav Forsling, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Rasmus Andersson, as well as Philip Broberg.
Injuries cost the team Leo Carlsson and Jonas Brodin, but Marcus Johansson and Hampus Lindholm are solid veteran replacements.
This team might not have a ton of superstars, but it is littered with all NHL talent and plenty of veteran leadership. If Canada or Team USA falter, Sweden has plenty of talent to challenge for gold. What might hold Sweden back is goaltending, as Filip Gustavsson, Jacob Markstrom and Jesper Wallstedt are good, but the trio needs to be great, standing on their collective heads, stealing wins.
Germany - Over 1.5 Group Stage Wins (-104)
Last, but certainly not least, I like Team Germany to make a bit of noise in Group C play.
Germany, led by one of the world's most gifted offensive weapons, Leon Draisaitl, isn't nearly as deep with NHL talent. The team will be relying upon plenty of international players. However, the German NHL players that they do have are pretty good. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer is a decent option, forwards Lukas Reichel, Nico Sturm and Tim Stutzle are strong, as is defenseman Moritz Seider. JJ Peterka and former NHL players Dominik Kahun and Tobias Rieder give the Germans some depth, but don't expect many upsets.
Still, Germany should be able to get to at least two group stage wins, as the team faces Denmark in the opening game Feb. 12, followed by a date with Latvia on Feb. 14.
Czechia (-192) also might be a good play to go Over 1.5 Group Stage Wins, as it has France and Switzerland on the schedule. However, it isn't a good of a value as Germany, since Czechia costs nearly two times your potential return.
