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<\/a><\/p>\n\n Will Brianne Jenner be a force for Team Canada? (Leila Devlin \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Brianne Jenner runs it back<\/p>\n
Think fast, and don\u2019t look it up: Who was the MVP of the 2022 tournament? Was it Poulin, who\u2019s approaching GOAT status in the sport? Hilary Knight, hands-down the best American player of her generation? Sarah Fillier? Sarah Nurse? Buzzers all around. It was Brianne Jenner \u2014 a player who spent a too-large chunk of her career operating in Poulin\u2019s shadow and then, post-2022, struggled both in the PWHL and at World Championships. She\u2019s having a bounce-back season for the Ottawa Charge, though, and seems capable (once again) of forcing her way past higher-profile stars. She might not have another nine-goal tournament, but I\u2019d bet on her being a force. \u2014 Sean Gentille<\/p>\n
The American women lap the competition and don\u2019t lose a game<\/p>\n
The only thing that could derail the United States is overconfidence or a bad goaltending outing at the worst possible time. The U.S. proved during the 2025 Rivalry Series that it is younger, faster and better balanced than its rivals from Canada, which will be its chief competition. In a four-game sweep of Canada between Cleveland, Buffalo and Edmonton, the U.S. outscored Canada by a whopping 17 goals. While the Americans said all the right things after their fourth consecutive win, such as Knight calling themselves \u201cunderdogs\u201d and Laila Edwards pointing out that the Olympics is a far different \u201cbattlefield,\u201d it\u2019s just hard to imagine any country defeating the Americans, let alone them not taking home gold. \u2014 Michael Russo<\/p>\n
Quinn Hughes leads all Olympians in ice time and defensemen in points<\/p>\n
Well, the ice time part isn\u2019t exactly bold. Maybe not even the points part. But what many folks took for granted during the 4 Nations Face-Off when the United States came up one goal short to Canada in the championship is that the Americans played the tournament without the country\u2019s most electric offensive defenseman, the injured one-man breakout that is Quinn Hughes. Nobody in the NHL has the puck on his stick more than Hughes, and what he has done for the Minnesota Wild offensively since his Dec. 14 arrival has been nothing short of extraordinary. Hughes should pile up points for the U.S. in the Olympics and help create a daunting power play for opposing penalty kills to extinguish. \u2014 Michael Russo<\/p>\n
Team USA\u2019s rising stars steal the spotlight in the women\u2019s tournament<\/p>\n
In 2022, Fillier\u2019s breakout performance for Team Canada was the story of the tournament. And on the other side of the gold medal matchup, Team USA was criticized for over-sheltering its up-and-coming talent. There was no smooth \u201cchanging of the guard\u201d transition; it was an over-reliance on veterans instead of a balance between Team USA\u2019s stalwarts and Olympic rookies. But it\u2019s not 2022 anymore; there is so much rising talent on Team USA this time around, and a coaching staff that is more than willing to deploy them. So while Knight will rightfully get a lot of attention in her final Olympic Tournament, the story will be the young guns making an impact. It\u2019s going to be the Abbey Murphy show up front, with Hannah Bilka earning a lot of recognition. And on the back end, with some Olympic experience under her belt (in a very limited role in 2022), Caroline Harvey is going to show that she is one of the most dynamic offensive defenders in the world. Edwards will become more of a household name, too, with her all-around game. It\u2019s finally going to be a new era at the Olympic level. \u2014 Shayna Goldman<\/p>\n
Rasmus Dahlin is Sweden\u2019s MVP<\/p>\n
Team Sweden is dealing with a lot of key injuries. Jonas Brodin and Leo Carlsson are out, and defensive snub Simon Edvinsson is now injured and can\u2019t replace them. While Gabriel Landeskog and Victor Hedman (who only just recently returned for Tampa Bay) are expected to be back for the tournament, the real question is whether they will be healthy enough to play or truly make an impact. This opens the door to another defenseman getting the chance to step up: Dahlin. He really hasn\u2019t had the chance to show what he can do in this type of setting, since he has never played at the Olympic level or in the NHL postseason. But considering how elite his all-around game has been on a Sabres team that struggled through a lot of ups and downs over the years, Dahlin should be able to amp things up even more on a star-studded roster. That could be the key to Sweden going on a real run here, especially with a disruptor such as Czechia pushing for a medal this year. \u2014 Shayna Goldman<\/p>\n
Sweden upsets to get on the women\u2019s podium<\/p>\n
Most players and pundits predict a Finland versus Czechia bronze medal match. And it\u2019s a safe bet; that\u2019s how it\u2019s been at back-to-back women\u2019s world championships. However, Sweden is a fun dark horse team to watch with an exciting young roster, headlined by Ohio State freshman Hilda Svensson, who has 44 points in 26 games. The Swedish team has suffered in international competition due to the women\u2019s group format. So, the team would need to win Group B and upset either Finland or Czechia in the quarterfinals to make a real podium push. But these are supposed to be bold predictions, after all. \u2014 Hailey Salvian<\/p>\n
U.S. men fight for bronze<\/p>\n
If these are truly bold predictions, I\u2019m going to say Team USA fails to make the Olympic gold medal game. They lost to Canada at 4 Nations and didn\u2019t really tweak the roster in a way that appeals to me. But mostly I\u2019m thinking about how Team USA won only a single game in 1998 when NHL players debuted at the Olympics. Almost 30 years later, as a Canadian, it\u2019s funny to think about history repeating itself as NHL players make their return to the Olympic stage. I\u2019ll be realistic and assume they at least make the bronze medal game this time around. \u2014 Hailey Salvian<\/p>\n
Jordan Binnington, the greatest goalie on Earth<\/p>\n
\u201cGoaltending is voodoo\u201d is a very trite phrase. It is a very annoying phrase. It is also a very accurate phrase, and it may as well have been coined with Binnington in mind. The worse Binnington looks for the Blues \u2014 and as I write this, he has literally saved fewer goals than expected than any goaltender in the league, with a save percentage that\u2019s one of the league\u2019s worst \u2014 the better I believe he\u2019ll play in Milan. That\u2019s simply how it works. In 2014, Carey Price allowed three goals in five games. Put Binnington down for two. And if he stinks? You\u2019re welcome, America. \u2014 Sean Gentille<\/p>\n
Switzerland wins the bronze medal<\/p>\n
There is legitimate star power on Team Switzerland with Roman Josi, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Kevin Fiala and others. But more importantly, there is team cohesion. Most of the players on this year\u2019s team were also on the team that reached the 2024 IIHF men\u2019s worlds final before losing to Czechia (a country that will also benefit from that experience). There is a shared experience of success there that could transfer to this tournament. Also, Switzerland\u2019s non-NHL depth all play in the highly competitive Swiss NL. They are good players who might be unfamiliar to NHL fans but will play depth roles effectively. The big question is goaltending and whether the trio of Josi, J.J. Moser and Jonas Siegenthaler can carry the load on the back end. But in the grander scheme of Swiss hockey, there is a \u201cLast Dance\u201d feel to this team as some of their NHL stars begin to age with not much in the way of young talent coming through the pipeline. The world championship silver in 2024 was a big moment for Swiss hockey. This might be their last chance for a while to do something ever bigger. And a bronze at these best-on-best Olympics would definitely be much bigger. \u2014 Arpon Basu<\/p>\n
One of the biggest stories of the Olympics will be one we don\u2019t find out about until later<\/p>\n
All the lobbying that will go on between players in advance of this year\u2019s trade deadline and free agency. NHL teams aren\u2019t allowed to tamper, and while we can quibble about how strongly that rule is actually enforced, we know GMs can\u2019t call up players who are under contract to another team and beg them to jump ship. But that rule doesn\u2019t apply to players themselves, who\u2019ll want to have conversations with the temporary teammates they\u2019re spending all that time with. If that conversation happened to turn to how much fun it is to play for a certain team or in a certain market, well, that\u2019s just some friendly banter, right? Sure \u2026 until a player from your favorite team comes back from Italy and suddenly seems to have his eye on a new home. Will any players receive any salesmanship talking points before they head over? Will any teams complain about their players being targeted? Would the league want to open a can of worms by doing anything about it? It would be interesting to find out. \u2014 Sean McIndoe<\/p>\n
The Canada-USA rivalry sees more bad blood on the women\u2019s side than on the men\u2019s<\/p>\n
Some of that is based on history \u2014 the women\u2019s rivalry has been hockey\u2019s best for the last decade or so. Some of it is familiarity, with the recent Rivalry Series still lingering. And some of it will be international experience. Remember, last year\u2019s epic 4 Nations battle essentially came under NHL rules, while the Olympics is a different deal. The men will have to be careful to adjust, while the women already know the drill. Add it all up, and while we won\u2019t see three fights in nine seconds, don\u2019t be shocked if we see more scrums, trash talk and general nastiness from the women. \u2014 Sean McIndoe<\/p>\n
Matt Boldy is Team USA\u2019s best offensive game breaker<\/p>\n
Team USA is stacked with an elite blue line and strong goaltending. The big question for them, though, is whether they have enough elite offensive game breakers up front to outgun Canada, especially because they controversially left Jason Robertson and Cole Caufield at home. Jack Eichel is a two-way superstar, but he may not dominate offensively because of how daunting his defensive matchups could be, particularly if he\u2019s matched against Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon in any potential games against Canada. The Tkachuk brothers were a force at 4 Nations, but Matthew is coming off an injury and Brady has played well but isn\u2019t filling the net offensively this season (14 goals in 34 games). Perhaps Auston Matthews, who has turned a corner since Christmas, becomes Team USA\u2019s best offensive weapon, but I\u2019m going to predict Boldy is the one who steps up. Boldy was really noticeable at 4 Nations, and he\u2019s taken another step this season, on pace for 46 goals. Most importantly, I think Boldy\u2019s combination of size, athleticism and high-end skill will translate well offensively in what will likely be a tight-checking tournament where space is hard to find. And since his defensive duties on the wing won\u2019t be as demanding as Eichel\u2019s and Matthews\u2019, there\u2019s extra reason to believe he can emerge as America\u2019s best pure offensive game breaker at forward. \u2014 Harman Dayal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jordan Binnington will prove once again to be the greatest goalie on Earth. A debate is about to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5118],"tags":[233,229,5,52575,161,1765,38,5280,2337,4,2602,3105,84,162,1581,52590],"class_list":{"0":"post-443183","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-wild","8":"tag-anaheim-ducks","9":"tag-buffalo-sabres","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-mens-olympic-hockey","12":"tag-minnesota","13":"tag-minnesota-frost","14":"tag-minnesota-wild","15":"tag-minnesotawild","16":"tag-montreal-victoire","17":"tag-nhl","18":"tag-olympics","19":"tag-ottawa-charge","20":"tag-st-louis-blues","21":"tag-wild","22":"tag-womens-hockey","23":"tag-womens-olympic-hockey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116006573698459122","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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