One of the most exciting aspects of the 2024 All-Star festivities was the announcements made regarding the future of NHL players’ participation in international events. In addition to the NHL’s Four Nations Face-Off, which will replace the All-Star events next season, Commissioner Gary Bettman revealed that the NHL and NHLPA have agreed with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to allow NHL players to participate in the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympics.
The last time the NHL was at the Olympics was in Sochi, Russia in 2014, with Team Canada winning gold in a 3-0 victory over Team Sweden. Alex Pietrangelo is the only current Golden Knights player who participated in those games, making him the only player to have any Olympic experience at all.
With that being said, let’s take a look at which current Golden Knights have the best chance to represent their nations and head to Italy for the next Winter Olympics.
William Karlsson – Team Sweden
William Karlsson is one of the few players on this list who will benefit from the competition around him aging out. Sweden is extremely deep down the middle headlined by Elias Pettersson, Mika Zibanejad, Nicklas Backstrom and Joel Eriksson Ek. However, Backstrom will be 38 at the time the games begin and his contract will have expired with the Washington Capitals in 2025. Unless they want Backstrom around when Ovechkin inevitably breaks Wayne Gretzky’s goal record, it’s unlikely he will still be playing.
Karlsson seems like a great fit as a penalty killer and a secondary scoring threat at the international level. He’s also built the playoff resume as a key contributor on a Stanley Cup-winning team, leading the Golden Knights in scoring on their 2020-21 run with 16 points in 19 games, and then finishing sixth on the team in playoff scoring when they won it all last season with 17 points in 22 games.
Shea Theodore – Team Canada
Shea Theodore was a part of Team Canada’s 2019 IIHF World Championship roster alongside Jonathan Marchessault and Alex Pietrangelo, and led defensemen on the team with seven points in 10 games. While they ultimately lost in the Gold Medal Game to Team Finland, this was a major turning point in Theodore’s career.
His points-per-game (P/GP) increased from 0.46 in 2018-19 to 0.64 in 2019-20, following that up with a breakout performance in the playoffs where he led the Golden Knights with 19 points in 20 games. Theodore’s regular season production improved again the next season with 42 points in 53 games (0.79 P/GP), solidifying himself as one of the most underrated offensive-defensemen in the NHL.
The one thing that will hold Theodore back from being able to make this roster is his availability. He’s missed 60 games in the last two seasons, and has faced numerous setbacks this season with his timeline for return consistently changing. There aren’t six more talented defenders than him from Canada right now, but as he enters the midst of his prime, he has to be available in order to make a lasting impression over up-and-coming players.
Alex Pietrangelo – Team Canada
As previously mentioned, Pietrangelo is the only player on this list who’s been able to represent their country at an Olympic event, Winning gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Games. That shouldn’t guarantee him a roster spot, especially considering his age, but his history of winning gives him a better case over others. There’s no true one-to-one comparison with Olympic hockey, but the NHL playoffs are the closest thing we have, and Pietrangelo has thrived there.
On top of playing 1,000 regular season games, he’s added nearly two seasons worth of games to his total in the playoffs (132), and he is second in postseason points since the 2011-12 season (73). He’s played in a leadership role for over a decade now, starting out as an alternate captain with the St. Louis Blues for three seasons before being named captain in 2016.
Pietrangelo has continued that leadership role from the moment he joined the Golden Knights in 2020, being named as an alternate captain for all four seasons he’s been with the franchise. It may not seem like a good enough reason to choose him over another player, but there’s a quality he possesses outside of his on-ice talents that his teammates gravitate towards. A veteran presence could prove to be important on a young Team Canada, and Pietrangelo could provide that.
Adin Hill – Team Canada
There hasn’t been a goaltender in the NHL whose stock has risen higher in the past year than Adin Hill. With short stints at the NHL level between the Arizona Coyotes and San Jose Sharks, the Golden Knights saw the potential for Hill to take on a larger role within their organization, and he’s reached a level where his consideration for the starting role with Team Canada is a no-brainer.
Since the 2022-23 season, Hill has the second-highest save percentage (SV%) among goaltenders with at least 40 games played (.923 SV%) behind Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark. He’s also second to Ullmark in goals-against average (GAA) in the same timeframe with a 2.28 GAA.
With no playoff experience at all, Hill won 11 of his 14 starts, had two shutouts, and led all goaltenders with a .932 SV% on the way to the Golden Knights’ first championship last season. Despite his injury troubles, he leads the NHL with a .933 SV% this season (min. 20 games played) and has the lowest GAA with 2.00.
At 27 years old, Hill should not only be the number one candidate for the job for Team Canada, but should be considered one of the best goalies in the world.
Mark Stone – Team Canada
Mark Stone has had the best offensive production at the international level out of anyone on this list. He led Team Canada in scoring at the World Juniors in 2012, winning bronze with 10 points in six games. He then had a combined 24 points in 20 games over two World Championships in 2016 and 2019, winning gold and silver respectively.
Regardless of his great hockey resume, his age and speed are both factors that may prevent him from remaining a strong candidate for the 2026 Olympics. Stone will be 33 years old at the time of the Olympics, and his game has lost a significant amount of pace over the past few seasons. It hasn’t impacted his ability to produce offensively, as he currently leads the Golden Knights in scoring with 52 points in 53 games, but it’ll be his defensive abilities that get him a spot on this roster.
Stone’s game has changed over his five seasons with the Golden Knights, building an identity as one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL. Canada has historically added at least one or two forwards to their roster whose primary role is playing defensively, and that’s likely what Stone would bring to Team Canada.
Jack Eichel – Team USA
Outside of Hill, Jack Eichel is the biggest no-brainer for Olympic consideration. The only debate should be if he’s playing as a center or on the wing. He’s recorded 110 points in 109 games over the past two seasons, and is coming off of a historic first playoff run where he led the Golden Knights with 26 points in 22 games.
It’s unlikely that Team USA will have many players with Olympic experience, so Eichel’s limited experience at the IIHF World Championship will be valuable to their young roster. He’s played a combined 26 games between the 2015, 2017, and 2019 events, recording a total of 16 points and taking home a bronze medal in the 2015 World Championship.
Related: United States’ Projected Roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics
Team USA has a plethora of elite centremen including Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes, Tage Thompson and Dylan Larkin, but the depth at wing is arguably even stronger. I think he’d be more effective as a second-line center, than a smaller and more mobile skater like Jack Hughes. He hasn’t been a great power play contributor for the Golden Knights, but he’s improved his game enough defensively that he could be a strong penalty-kill option.
Final Thoughts
The most notable omissions from this list are Jonathan Marchessault and Logan Thompson, who both have the potential to represent Canada as well. With Canada’s pool of offensive players being so incredibly deep, I find it hard to believe that at 35 years old Marchessault will be playing at a level that will justify him being in the lineup over some of the younger candidates. He’ll have a much better chance at competing for a spot at the Four Nations Face-Off in 2025.
The decision to leave out Thompson was much more difficult. Canada doesn’t have an elite goaltending pool relative to the rest of the nations, and there’s a much larger group that would be considered good backup/secondary options. I think it’s much more likely that they decide to go with solidified starters to round out the rest of their goaltenders with players like Tristan Jarry and Jordan Binnington.
Regardless of who ends up going, to have this many players on one team even be considered for the Olympics is an incredible accomplishment for the Golden Knights. These will be some of the best-constructed international rosters we’ve seen in a long time, and the Golden Knights have enough talent to send multiple players to Italy in 2026.
