For the first time since 2014, the NHL has returned to the Winter Olympic Games! While it was a long road to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, it feels right to finally see the best hockey players in the world donning the crest of their homeland and competing for gold.
With excitement in the air and the NHL season on pause, THW wanted to continue our weekly Power Rankings segment by ranking the men’s teams competing at the Olympics. After a furious rush in the final weeks before the break, a number of potential Olympians were ruled out due to injury, which shook up some of the top teams. However, with the rosters now locked in, we know exactly what the final teams look like, making it a perfect time to discuss the tournament as a whole.
It’s important to remember that the Olympic Games are a celebration of sport, and this Ranking is just a fun exercise built on excitement. We haven’t seen these countries competing at full power in years, and the hockey world is ready for what will be an incredible tournament.
So, with the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games kicking off, let’s jump into THW’s Men’s Hockey Power Rankings!
12: Italy Ready to Show Their Hockey Potential
12. Italy
One reality of the Olympic Games is that the host country, which earns an automatic bid to events as part of its hosting duties, will be overmatched in certain tournaments. Hockey is one of those sports where the talent gap between countries can be a chasm, even if their rosters are filled with professional players.
For Italy, the 2026 Olympic Games will be a time to showcase the potential of hockey in their country. Likely, their success will be measured in goals scored, and not games won. However, if you look at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Rankings, Team Italy isn’t as overmatched as recent host countries in men’s hockey, so there’s a real chance they pull off some great performances and maybe even an upset, which would be a lot of fun.
11-8: Long Roads Push Olympic Qualifying Teams to Greatness
11. France
10. Slovakia
9. Denmark
8. Latvia
In case you didn’t follow how the 12 countries were chosen for the 2026 Men’s Olympic Tournament, seven teams received a bid based on their IIHF Rankings, Italy received the host country automatic bid, and four teams had to fight their way through qualification tournaments to earn the final placements in the dance. After the dust settled, this left us with France, Slovakia, Latvia, and Denmark as the final four qualifiers.
I wanted to preface this section by explaining how these teams made it to the Olympics, just so everyone understood the work these teams put in just to make it this far. These teams have talented rosters who are absolute rockstars in their home countries, and in many cases, they will not only be future faces of the NHL but also their homeland for years to come.
None of these countries made the Olympic Games by chance, and while they may be in the middle section of the Rankings, they still represent the best the sport has to offer. With this in mind, it would come as no surprise if at least one of these countries wins a few games and pushes for a qualifying bid to the quarterfinals.
If I had to pick one team to watch off this list, I feel like Latvia has more to give in this tournament than their Ranking may show. Team Latvia always puts on a show, and they have a hot goaltender in Arturs Silovs, who recently earned the 2025 Jack A. Butterfield Trophy for the AHL Playoff MVP. He’s the kind of player who can steal a game, and one hot week could unexpectedly put them into the quarterfinals
7-1: NHL Stars Highlight Olympic Tournament
7. Switzerland
6. Germany
5. Finland
4. Czechia
3. Sweden
2. United States of America
1. Canada
When you get to the top of the 2026 Olympic Rankings, star power is the name of the game. Team Canada are the gold medal favorite for a reason, as they feature two of the best players in the world, along with a living legend in Sydney Crosby, who will likely be in his last go at the Olympic Games. Overall, this roster is a super team on offense and defense, and while their goaltending is merely whelming, they have shown they can do enough to win when called upon.
Team USA is not far behind Canada, as they have an absolutely loaded roster with superstar talent on forward, defense, and the best goaltending corps in the tournament. You can make the argument that they should be the favorites, but I have to defer to Canada’s top-three players and rank the stars and stripes in second.
After the top teams, Sweden, Czechia, and Finland are all very close in my mind. Sweden has one of the best defensive corps at the event, plenty of scoring potential, and stout goaltending, so they are a real threat to make the gold-medal game. Similarly, Czechia has a loaded offensive roster and a budding star goaltender in Lukas Dostal, so don’t be shocked if they go on a run to at least the semifinals. Finally, we have Finland, who if healthy, would have been in the fourth spot. However, it’s hard to imagine the team reaching its full potential without Aleksander Barkov, so I put Czechia ahead of them heading into the tournament.
For the remaining two teams, you have a true dark horse in Team Germany. Between superstar talent like Leon Draisaitl and the growth of hockey across Germany, it feels like this team has the potential to break out again as they did in 2018, when they claimed the silver medal. After Germany is Team Switzerland, which features high-end scoring talent, and if they can get consistent goaltending, they could be a team to watch. However, I’m not sure if they will be able to keep up with juggernauts like Canada and Czechia in Group A.
2026 Olympic Games Kicking Off
Well, after years of waiting, it’s finally time for best on best mens hockey to take place again on the world stage with NHL players. No matter which country you’re rooting for, I think we can all agree that it’s just exciting to see the best players in the world fighting it out once again.
Related: Top 10 Best Ice Hockey Leagues
With the Olympic Games in full swing, THW will be taking a break, along with the NHL, from the regular scheduled Power Rankings. So, enjoy some well-earned time off while while prepairing for a scheduling rush once we return in late February. The 2026 NHL Trade Deadline will be just days after the end of the Olympics, so be prepared for big moves once the gold medal game is settled.
