The Men’s Hockey Olympic Tournament is about to start on Wednesday morning, and with that, there’s no better time to make predictions for each of the four Montreal Canadiens players who will be representing their countries over the next 2 weeks. All four players will have amazing experiences representing their countries on the world stage in what is the biggest international tournament for hockey, but their expectations will all be much different. Here are my predictions for each of the four Habs players at the Olympics.

Montreal Canadiens players headed to the 2026 Olympics so far:

Nick Suzuki (Canada)
Juraj Slafkovsky (Slovakia)
Oliver Kapanen (Finland)
Alex Texier (France)

— Marco D’Amico (@mndamico) January 2, 2026

Starting with Juraj Slafkovsky, who will be making his 2nd Olympic appearance after he helped Slovakia win a bronze medal in 2022, which was their first-ever medal in hockey at the Olympics. Despite only being 17 years old at the time in a tournament that included no NHLers, Slafkovsky was easily the best player in the tournament during his first Olympics, where he won tournament MVP with 7 goals in 7 games alongside his bronze medal. This time with NHLers being in the tournament, it won’t be as easy for the now 21-year-old Slafkovsky to dominate the tournament.

Juraj Slafkovský played a key roll in Slovakia winning the bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and aims to help his country place high again at #MilanoCortina2026, but this time in a tournament filled with fellow NHL players. #WinterOlympics

More: https://t.co/99H3my0D4t pic.twitter.com/apygbnEBYj

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) February 10, 2026

Nonetheless, he should still be a top producer for Slovakia and lead them in scoring as the face of his country. We should expect him to put up around a point per game once again, but this time there will be more assists for the Habs power forward than the first time around. As for the team success, I can’t see Slovakia getting past the quarterfinals with teams like Canada, the USA, Sweden, and Finland overpowering them with their star players. With that being said, expect Slafkovsky to play 5 games in the tournament, where I’ll predict that he will score 2 goals and 3 assists, finishing the tournament with 5 points, which would be the highest among Habs players in my opinion.

Next up we go to Alexandre Texier, who will be playing for France as the country’s only current NHL player. The country has a few players like Stephane Da Costa and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare who played in the NHL, but it’s clear that Texier is by far his country’s top player heading into this tournament. While many may assume that Texier will score a lot of points as their best scoring option, it is likely that he will have his struggles playing alongside less talented players. This is why I believe that Texier will produce just under a point per game for France in the Olympic tournament.

Arrivé dimanche, Alexandre Texier nous raconte ses premiers jours aux Jeux Olympiques et évoque le tournoi qui attend les Bleus 🎙️

Avec en plus un mot pour les @CanadiensMTL 👀🇨🇦#TeamFranceHockey pic.twitter.com/yV5QNhN7kw

— Équipes de France Hockey 🏒 (@Hockey_FRA) February 10, 2026

My prediction for Texier is 2 goals and an assist in 4 games, as all teams will get 4 matchups. France as a whole seems like the 2nd worst team heading into the tournament behind the host, Italy, and should be eliminated during the play-in games, which the best team in each group and the best 2nd place will be able to skip for a spot in the Quarterfinals.

In terms of individual performances, the player that will likely have the hardest Olympics is Oliver Kapanen, who is expected to start the Olympics as the 13th or 14th forward for Finland. Kapanen is the youngest player on the Finnish squad and is expected to play his way up the lineup as the tournament goes. With that being said, he will likely have a slow start while he gets minimal ice time. Still, with how good Kapanen has been for the Canadiens as a complimentary player, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him carve himself a spot on the 3rd line as a right winger alongside Luostarinen and Lundell to form a solid energy line by the end of the tournament.

I did a post on this,but basically

In Finnish hockey culture, there is an unwritten rule often referred to as “earning your stripes” (or arvojärjestys). Even for a player like Oliver Kapanen, who has 18 NHL goals this season, talent alone doesn’t automatically bypass seniority.

— SidneyPiopi (@SPiopi) February 8, 2026

Based on the groups for the Olympic Round Robin games, Finland looks like they can be the best 2nd place team behind Sweden in group play and be able to skip the play-in round to get right to the quarterfinals, meaning they will have a maximum of 6 games played. With that being said, I believe Kapanen finishes the tournament as a solid energy guy who puts up a goal and an assist in 6 games as Finland ends up losing the bronze medal to the Americans.

Last but certainly not least, the Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, who will be starting the tournament with superstar Nathan MacKinnon and notorious pest Brad Marchand on Canada’s 2nd line. It will be interesting to see if that line sticks; however, Suzuki will likely play a defensive role for Canada and be a staple on their penalty kill alongside someone like Mitch Marner or Mark Stone. Still, if he does play with superstars, expect Suzuki to put up some points on the board. However, given the depth on this roster, I wouldn’t expect him to be a top producer on Canada without any power play time.

Like most Canadians his age, Nick Suzuki grew up idolizing and modelling his game after Sidney Crosby. Now, breathing the same Olympic air as his hero, it all seems to have paid off.@EricEngels caught up with Suzuki and his parents ahead of Milan. https://t.co/XYmup1pEQx

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 8, 2026

Canada should win their group, with only Czechia as their biggest challenge for 1st place, and as a result will also skip the play-in part of the tournament, heading straight to the quarterfinals. I predict Suzuki to finish the tournament with a goal and 3 assists for 4 points in 6 games en route to Canada winning the gold medal game against Sweden. He will a role of a guy that can do a little bit of everything for Canada and play a big role in helping them win gold.

Let me know what you think about my individual predictions, and feel free to share your predictions for the Olympics.