Photo credit: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images
The Vancouver Canucks could be well represented at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina, Italy, which begins in a little less than six weeks.
Happy New Year and welcome to 2026, where the Vancouver Canucks are hoping to turn the page and take a step forward amid the organization’s plans to go through a hybrid retool, rather than a full rebuild.
Vancouver Canucks could be well represented at 2026 Winter Olympics
Back in June, each of the 12 participating nations had to announce the first six players on their respective rosters for the Winter Olympics and for Latvia, Vancouver Canucks forward Teddy Blueger was among those named to their group, alongside the club’s former netminder Arturs Silovs, who led his nation to a bronze medal at the 2023 IIHF World Hockey Championship.
Along with Teddy Blueger, there are a number of other Vancouver Canucks that could be lacing up their skates at the Olympics. Let’s take a look at who could be wearing their nation’s colours next month.
Elias Pettersson (Sweden)
The most likely to head to the Winter Olympics from the Vancouver Canucks, among those not named yet, is forward Elias Pettersson, who has plenty of experience on the international stage, most recently at the 4 Nations Face-Off in early 2025.
Pettersson is set to play a big role for Sweden too, potentially as their second line center and on the power play too, which could give him the confidence he needs for a strong finish to the 2025-26 season in Vancouver.
In 16 games at the senior men’s level with Sweden, Pettersson has 13 points (four goals, nine assists), two penalty minutes to go along with a gold medal at the 2018 IIHF World Hockey Championship.
Much like Elias Pettersson, Filip Hronek is a lock to make his nation’s roster – Czechia and will without a doubt feature on their top pairing, a role he’s very familiar with from his time with the Vancouver Canucks.
Hronek has a ton of experience internationally with Czechia, appearing in 43 games at five IIHF World Championships, registering 26 points (five goals, 21 assists) and 32 penalty minutes.
The 28-year-old is going to have his hands full right out of the gate in Italy as Czechia’s first opponent in the preliminary round is Canada, who has Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Sidney Crosby and Macklin Celebrini on their roster.
While Thatcher Demko is unlikely to make the United States’ roster, which will be unveiled on Friday morning, the opposite can be said for Finnish netminder Kevin Lankinen.
It’s been a tough season for Kevin Lankinen, with an .885 save percentage and a 3.41 goals against average in 19 games for the Canucks this season, but he’s been lights out when he’s had the opportunity to represent the Finns.
At the 2019 IIHF World Championship, Lankinen had an impressive 7-1 record in eight games, along with a 1.50 goals against average, a .942 save percentage and two shutouts, leading Finland to their first gold medal at the tournament in eight years.
Lankinen will likely form a tandem with Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators, who has the upper hand to become Finland’s starter when the puck drops on their preliminary round schedule on February 11th.
David Kampf is another name that is more than likely a lock for Czechia’s Olympic roster and will be a key bottom six forward for their group, potentially featuring on their top penalty killing unit as well.
Kampf’s experience on the international stage is limited, with just three IIHF World Championships under his belt, although he’s taken home a medal in two of them – bronze in 2022 and gold in 2024, the latter of which he had seven points in nine games.
Now, this one is tricky because if Filip Chytil was back at 100 percent health right now, he’d be a lock, but with rosters due to the IIHF and IOC early this month, it seems unlikely that we’ll see the centerman selected.
If that’s the case, it’ll be a big blow for Czechia’s depth down the middle, but with Chytil still recovering from a concussion suffered in late October, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Vancouver Canucks were to advise him to play it safe and not rush back just to play at the Olympics.
In 17 games with Czechia at the senior men’s level, Chytil has seven points (three goals, four assists) and six penalty minutes.
Marcus Pettersson (Sweden)
Defenseman Marcus Pettersson has answered the call for Sweden at the last two IIHF World Championships, putting up nine points in 20 games, helping them to a pair of bronze medals, but he’s going to have a tough time cracking the Olympic roster.
Sweden has a ton of depth on the blue line with guys like Rasmus Andersson, Erik Karlsson, Rasmus Dahlin, Victor Hedman, among others, and because of that, there isn’t really a spot for him and quite frankly, Pettersson’s play this season in Vancouver hasn’t been all that great, likely leaving him on the outside looking for his nation’s Olympic roster.
The 2026 Winter Olympics will get underway on Thursday, February 11th with a pair of games from Group B – Slovakia vs Finland at 7:40 am PT & Sweden vs Italy at 12:10 pm PT.
Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily