Team Canada is one of the favourites to take home Olympic gold in men’s hockey with NHL players participating for the first time since 2014, but one big question has lingered over the squad.

While Canada is deep up front with Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon leading the way and two-time Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar anchoring the defence corps, a favourite to be Canada’s starter in net has yet to emerge as Jordan Binnington, Darcy Kuemper and Logan Thompson are battling for the role.

Binnington, Canada’s No. 1 at the 4 Nations Face-off, was a key piece as Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in overtime in the final.

However, of the trio, Binnington has struggled the most in the NHL this season. He is 8-17-6 with an .864 save percentage and 3.65 goals-against average as the St. Louis Blues are in second-last place in the Western Conference.

“This is a completely different environment,” Binnington told NHL.com. “It’s been in the back of our minds or in our minds for the last six to eight months-plus. The moment is here, and it’s about just letting go, playing free and playing your style.”

Thompson has the best stats of the trio this season, as he is 19-16-4 with the Washington Capitals while recording a .912 save percentage and 2.45 GAA.

Kuemper is 14-11-9 with a .900 save percentage and 2.59 GAA with the Los Angeles Kings.

Neither Thompson nor Kuemper were at the 4 Nations Face-off last year but played their way onto the Olympic team as 4 Nations goaltenders Adin Hill and Samuel Montembeault have both struggled in 2025-26.

All three goaltenders have Stanley Cup titles on their resumes. Binnington backstopped the Blues to the Stanley Cup in 2019 while Kuemper did the same with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022. Thompson earned a Stanley Cup ring in 2023 with the Vegas Golden Knights but missed the playoffs due to injury.

Carey Price had a sterling performance at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, as he allowed just two goals in five games to lead Canada to gold.

Team Canada head coach Jon Cooper insists the current trio is up to the task and are deserving of being in Milan.

“To me, Carey Price goes down as one of the greatest goalies for sure of his generation and of all time. He was a winner. We have those guys,” Cooper told NHL.com. “Some of these guys may not go down as generational goaltenders, but they’re Stanley Cup winners. They have championship pedigree. They’ve made the big saves at the times they’ve needed to.

“I watched that in Darcy Kuemper in my own building in Tampa. I watched it in Jordan Binnington. I’ve watched Logan Thompson the last two years. Like, they’re as good as anybody, and what they’ve done for us not only last year but as teammates, I mean, we have all the faith in the world in them. I understand people have to write about stuff, but our guys go through a wall for them, and they do the same for us. To me, it’s not a story. I don’t know where it comes from.”

Canada kicks off the preliminary round on Thursday against Czechia and Thompson backed Cooper’s words.

“Everyone always just says how they think the goaltending is the weakest part [of Team Canada],” Thompson said. “I mean, it’s been the word for the last couple of years. I don’t see it that way. I don’t think we see it that way. But for some reason everyone else does.”