Russian Olympic Hockey Team 2026: Predictions & Analysis
- For months, there were various projections on which NHL players would make their countries' rosters for the 2026 Olympic Games.
- Now those projections have turned into actual rosters,which reinforces just how quickly the tournament in the Milan-Cortina Games is approaching on Feb.
- Deliberating how the United States,Canada,Finland and Sweden,among other nations,could perform at the olympics has spawned several discussions.
For months, there were various projections on which NHL players would make their countries’ rosters for the 2026 Olympic Games.
Now those projections have turned into actual rosters,which reinforces just how quickly the tournament in the Milan-Cortina Games is approaching on Feb. 11. It’s the first time since 2014 that the olympics will have NHL players.
Deliberating how the United States,Canada,Finland and Sweden,among other nations,could perform at the olympics has spawned several discussions. Give it enough time, and there’s a chance that at least one of those conversations could eventually turn to Russia’s absence.
The International Olympic Committee suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in 2022 after imposing sanctions stating the country violated the Olympic Charter with its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A small group of individual Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to participate at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris under a neutral flag.
The Russian discourse in hockey has been ongoing as 2022. The latest entry occurred ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off in Boston and Montreal last season. Introducing the 4 Nations Face Off — along with NHL players returning to the Olympics — was a reboot of the NHL having more of its players participate in international competitions beyond the IIHF world championships — an event that is held annually during the same time as the Stanley Cup playoffs.
One of the reasons why the NHL created the 4 nations event was to create a best-on-best international competition. Of course, that raised questions about why countries such as Czechia, Germany and Switzerland were omitted because they did not have enough NHL players, and the conversation included Russia’s situation as well.
The conversation about Russia’s position in the world of hockey has continued ahead of the Olympic Games, particularly with t“`html
0:45
Evgeni Malkin tallies goal for Pittsburgh penguins on the power play
Evgeni Malkin scores power-play goal vs. Devils
Who else makes the cut?
Rookie Danila Yurov became the Minnesota Wild‘s top-line center, which makes him one of the strongest candidates as Russia’s No. 2 behind Malkin. Yurov has six goals and 16 points through 39 games. That’s already more points than what other Russian NHL centers like Vladislav Namestnikov and Ivan Demidov or Matvei Michkov. What the teams experienced at 4 Nations reinforced the need for teams to have different options when it comes to their extra forwards. Pavel Buchnevich and Pavel Dorofeyev are just that. Buchnevich is on pace for his sixth season of more than 100 short-handed minutes, and is a six-time 20 goal scorer. Dorofeyev finished with 35 goals last season, and is projected to finish with more than 30 this season.
Russia’s defensive setup under this hypothetical appears as if it would have fewer selection questions by comparison.
If anything, the biggest looming question facing Russia would have been which one of its NHL defensemen it left at home. Russia has nine NHL defensemen averaging 19 minutes or more per game this season. That could have created a selection challenge, but it became a non-issue with alexander Romanov sustaining a right shoulder injury back in November that would have seen him miss the Olympics.
goaltenders
Russia possesses a high amount of talent on the wing, and has notable defensive depth. Those are two of its greatest strengths,but the most important component of its roster would be the wealth of options in goal.
Simply put, Russia is in a golden age of goaltending, how the nation is producing them and the need for more NHL teams to find the next great one.