With the NHL back in the Winter Olympic Games, Hockey Canada unveiled a list of 42 players that they’ve invited to their orientation camp for the men’s team that includes Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Hockey Canada’s roster construction is headed by GM Doug Armstrong, Assistant GMs Julien Brisebois, Jim Nill, and Don Sweeney, Director of Player Personnel Kyle Dubas, Head Coach Jon Cooper, as well as some input from Player Relations Advisor Ryan Getzlaf.
They were in charge of Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, in which they won the gold medal game in overtime when they defeated the United States courtesy of Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid.
The coaching staff will also be similar as Cooper will be the bench boss with Bruce Cassidy, Peter Deboer, Misha Donskov, and Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet representing his assistants for the tournament.
As for the player personnel, the Canadians invited 42 players to orientation camp, which includes 3 goaltenders, 26 forwards, and 13 defensemen, in which Konecny and Sanheim will partake. Both players represented their nation in February and will be hoping for the same opportunity in 2026.
The pool of players is going to be fierce, considering Konecny and Sanheim were on the bubble at the 4 Nations. Konecny and Seth Jarvis rotated in and out of the lineup and Sanheim was given a more stable role once Shea Theodore was forced to leave due to injury after the first game.
Of the 42 players, 3 of them have Olympic gold, 12 of them have won IIHF World Championship gold, 19 of them are Stanley Cup champions, and all 24 players from the 4 Nations have returned; making the final few spots on the roster up for battle during orientation camp as well as the first half of the 2025-26 regular season.
Connor Bedard, Quinton Byfield, Macklin Celebrini, Bo Horvat, Zach Hyman, Wyatt Johnston, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mark Scheifele, Nick Suzuki, John Tavares, Robert Thomas, Carter Verhaeghe, and Tom Wilson are the forwards that didn’t make it for Team Canada at 4 Nations that Konecny will have to battle against.
Comparatively, Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson, Aaron Ekblad, Brandon Montour, and MacKenzie Weegar fall in the same category that Sanheim will have to try to best from here on out. Thomas Harley wasn’t originally part of Canada’s plans at 4 Nations but was called upon due to Theodore’s injury. However, a strong postseason run has elevated his chances for the Olympics.
Considering it’s the same people in charge of making the decisions, Konecny and Sanheim could have a leg up on the competition. However, it’s paramount that they stand out to start the regular season, otherwise their chances will be in jeopardy with how much star talent was left off the roster this past year.
Considering players like Bouchard, Ekblad, Thomas, Scheifele, Suzuki, and Wilson increased their stock with strong finishes to the 2024-25 season, it will be interesting to see how Hockey Canada goes about constructing their roster this time around.
The men’s tournament will run through the 11th of February to the 22nd with preliminary rounds going from the 11th to the 15th. A playoff round is set for the 17th, the quarterfinals will be on the 18th, and semifinals are set for the 20th. The medal rounds start with the bronze medal game on the 21st and gold medal game on the 22nd.
There will also be three groups of four teams, where the winner of each group receives a bye into the quarterfinals with the highest ranked team outside of the group winner also joining in. The remaining 8 teams then do battle in a playoff game to advance to the quarterfinals.
Canada headlines Group A alongside Czechia, Switzerland, and France. Finland will be in Group B with Sweden, Slovakia, and host Italy, and the United States are in Group C with Germany, Latvia, and Denmark.
