2026 Winter Olympics: Five NHL stars who need to step it up
On-ice action at the men’s Olympic hockey tournament will take a break on Monday, allowing all 12 teams to get a much-needed rest.
The men’s tournament is unique in the way that every team makes the playoffs. Canada, the United States, Slovakia and Finland qualified for the quarterfinal through the group stage, while the other eight teams will need to fight it out on Tuesday in the qualification round.
The pressure is high – these athletes have been waiting over a decade for NHLers to return, and the quality hockey in Italy has been excellent as a result. But any losses the rest of the way mean the Olympic dream is over, so there’s no room for mistakes.
We’ve seen many of the game’s biggest stars – Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk, you name it – perform as expected. But for some top players, the tournament hasn’t gone exactly as planned so far.
Here’s a look at five NHLers who need to step it up over the next few days:
Sam Reinhart, RW, Canada (Florida Panthers)
A total of 12 players have scored at least one goal for Canada. Reinhart, who has been on the top power play the whole tournament, hasn’t. It’s not like he isn’t playing much – he has averaged about 14 minutes over the past two games. He has five shots total, with three coming in the blowout game against France. That was the only game he registered a point in, too, nabbing his only assist of the preliminary round.
Reinhart is typically a highly productive forward. Even last year at the 4 Nations Face-Off, he had four assists in four games. The fact that everyone he has lined up with has been productive, but Reinhart hasn’t, has raised some eyebrows. Is it time to take him off the power play? For a guy who has played plenty of big-game hockey the past few years, Reinhart needs to ramp it up during the playoffs.
Tomáš Hertl, C, Czechia (Vegas Golden Knights)
Hertl has had some looks – he had three shots against Canada and another five against France. By all accounts, he’s getting opportunities. But he hasn’t gotten a point yet – he’s as snakebitten as they get. He’s actually the lone NHL-affiliated forward on the team without one, which is shocking given he’s paired up with David Pastrnak on the top line.
With a 71-point full-season pace, Hertl is on track for one of the best seasons of his career. Injuries derailed portions of the past two seasons, but he remains a valuable contributor. With Czechia lacking high-end scoring depth beyond the top line, they’re going to need Hertl to start making things happen once the games really start to matter if they’re going to cement themselves as a serious medal contender. The chances have been there – the talent, too. The results just need to start matching that.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, RW, Denmark (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Scoring hasn’t been Denmark’s strong suit in this tournament. Two of the team’s three goals against the United States came from players who combined for three goals in 94 career World Championship games. Nikolaj Ehlers hasn’t scored either, but his impact has been solid. Bjorkstrand, meanwhile, has mostly looked invisible with zero points so far.
The 30-year-old is having a decent season in Tampa Bay, so expectations were high for him as one of the few NHL forwards on this Danish team. He had seven shots against Germany, but many weren’t that dangerous. Watching him against the United States, though, it felt like he was never in a scoring position. If Denmark is going to make it out of the qualification round, they’ll need a big showing out of Bjorkstrand.
Nino Niederreiter, RW, Switzerland (Winnipeg Jets)
Niederreiter has always been a big-time contributor for his coutnry dating back to the World Juniors. But this season, as a whole, hasn’t been kind to the 33-year-old winger. Niederreiter is on pace for under 30 points, something that hasn’t happened since 2019-20. He can be inconsistent, but you typically expect him to go hard for his country. So that’s why it’s a bit surprising that he hasn’t managed a point yet.
Switzerland isn’t an overly deep offensive team, and they’re missing Denis Malgin and Kevin Fiala. But that means Niederreiter needs to step it up a notch before it’s too late. The Swiss will be happy about the victory on Sunday, but they’re still going to need more from their NHL forwards to keep their tournament dreams alive.
J.T. Miller, LW, USA (New York Rangers)
It’s been hard to ignore the noise surrounding Jonathan Tanner Miller’s season. After registering 70 points a year ago and 103 the season prior, Miller is on track for 54 points, which would be the worst output in a season playing at least 70 games since 2018-19 if that continues. Many have questioned his leadership, his ability to truly make a difference for the Rangers, and whether he’s actually a hindrance to the club.
So the Olympics could have been a perfect opportunity for him to generate some quality chances. But while his linemates Brock Nelson and Jack Hughes have been lights out early on, Miller boasts the team’s lowest expected goals total of any American at 0.01 – can’t get much worse than that. It feels like he has been absolutely invisible at times, beyond a few hits and defensive plays. But for a guy who really needs to prove he can power through the hate and have an impact, we just haven’t seen it out of him. Special shoutout to Kyle Connor, who was scratched for the third American game after an invisible first two outings.
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