Olympic men’s hockey power rankings: USA’s roster mismanagement leaves Canada favorites entering tournament
With Hunter Crowther
Hey everyone! It’s your favorite power rankings team here! With the NHL on pause for the next few weeks due to Olympic hockey, they had to find us something to do during this time off. With that, we bring you the Olympic power rankings, as Hunter and I rank all 12 countries participating in the tournament and provide you with our usual combination of witty banter and (mostly) competent analysis.
While I usually incorporate analytics into my power ranking process, that obviously won’t be the case as we have nothing to go off for stats. So I’ve briefly joined Hunter on the dark side and am going off *shudders* vibes as we break down our thoughts on all 12 teams and how we think the tournament will unfold. And since we don’t have standings to go off for tiebreakers, we used each country’s IIHF ranking when we had a disagreement.
You didn’t think you’d go three weeks without us, right? We’re the second-best Canadian Olympic power (rankings) duo involved in a sport with skates that includes a guy named Scott, after all.
1. Canada
Hunter’s Rank: 1st
Scott’s Rank: 1st
Hunter: Do you know why Canada has won the last four instances of men’s best-on-best hockey? It’s simple: they’re the best.
OK, I’ll give you more than that: It’s the fact the best player in the world is always Canadian, or that nearly every best-on-best roster the Canadians field is full of future Hall of Famers. With names like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Sidney Crosby leading the charge, this year’s group is no exception. Hell, the reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner in Sam Bennett, who won back-to-back Stanley Cups and wound up being a major contributor to last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, was originally left off the roster. It took an Anthony Cirelli injury for Bennett to get a ticket to Italy.
Canada is bringing back the same eight defenders they used for the 4 Nations tournament. While Makar and his Colorado Avalanche defensive partner, Devon Toews, will see plenty of ice minutes, it will be interesting to see how head coach Jon Cooper deploys other big-minute blueliners like Shea Theodore, Josh Morrissey and Drew Doughty.
Their weak link is their goaltending, as Jordan Binnington, who will likely get the first start against Czechia, has been arguably the NHL’s worst netminder in 2025-26, ranking near the bottom in a number of both traditional and advanced stats.
But if you subscribe to the old adage that “the best defense is a good offense,” then this Canada group is for you.
Scott: Thank god Canada starts the tournament with a back-to-back, basically forcing them to rotate their goalies off the hop. Hopefully whoever they throw in to the second game outperforms Binnington by enough of a margin that they don’t go back to him. It could be the difference between gold and a lesser medal.
2. United States
Hunter’s Rank: 2nd
Scott’s Rank: 2nd
Scott: In terms of the talent available to them and how they look on paper, the United States should be considered the best team in the tournament. That’s largely due to the advantage they have in net with Connor Hellebuyck, but even the likes of Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, and the Hughes & Tkachuk brothers should give the Americans enough to bridge the skill gap that Canada has with McDavid, MacKinnon, Makar, Crosby and now Macklin Celebrini.
The problem is they did not take all the talent available to them. Adam Fox is the third-best defenseman in the league but didn’t make the cut (assuming he’s healthy). The States talked about wanting defensive responsibility and size at the bottom end of their lineup but decided that 6-foot-3hree Jason Robertson (who’s one of the better two-way wingers in the league) didn’t fit that bill. They only mustered two goals in the 4 Nations Final, and decided they couldn’t use goal-scoring talents like Cole Caufield or Alex DeBrincat. Heck, I forgot J.T. Miller was on this team, because I kept thinking. “There’s no way they allowed him on that team with how the New York Rangers are playing this year”.
It amazes me how the United States continues to overthink its roster for international competition. I get wanting certain players for certain roles, but it’s not like going for all-talent will produce a result worse than the 2016 World Cup. With the likes of Celebrini, Connor Bedard, Matthew Schaefer, Gavin McKenna and Landon DuPont poised to be the face of Canadian hockey for the next two decades, the States may have squandered their best chance at gold.
Hunter: The one thing I’ll give this U.S. team is that they were within a goal of winning the 4 Nations tournament without Quinn Hughes, and now they’ve got a healthy blueliner who looks extra motivated after being traded to the Minnesota Wild. If Hughes is the answer to Makar, Canada doesn’t have its own response for Zach Werenski.
Scott: If only Canada had another dynamic offensive defenseman to bring to the Olympics, one that had established chemistry with their best player. A shame that such a player doesn’t exist.
3. Sweden
Hunter’s Rank: 3rd
Scott’s Rank: 3rd
Hunter: Sweden’s defensive group has a healthy mix of size, skill and championship pedigree, led by Victor Hedman, Gustav Forsling, Rasmus Dahlin and a rejuvenated Erik Karlsson. William Nylander is the best offensive force for Sweden, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs with 52 points despite missing 17 games in 2025-26. If the Swedes want to medal, they’ll need an outsized performance from one of their options in the crease, perhaps from one of the Wild’s standout netminders.
Scott: I think the biggest difference between winning a medal and potential disappointment for the Swedes will depend on which version of Elias Pettersson shows up. Their center depth was already underwhelming beyond Leo Carlsson, so the Anaheim Duck’s injury hurts them even more. If Pettersson can return to form, Sweden may even find themselves in the gold-medal game.
4. Finland
Hunter’s Rank: 4th
Scott’s Rank: 4th
Scott: If Finland was healthy, the injuries to Sweden (and the underperformance of some of their big names in recent years) may have been enough to tip the scales for me to consider Finland as the better team. But Aleksander Barkov is a massive loss to this Finnish team, and while they save their best games for their Nordic rivals regardless, it’s likely going to be the toughest feat it’s been in years.
Hunter: Beyond their top names, Finland has a lot of players I really like, but more in a bottom-six, extra-depth-option type of way. When you’re up against teams with All-Star caliber athletes on their fourth lines, it’s hard to see the Finns succeeding. The one thing going for them is the potential for Mikko Rantanen to go psycho mode and steal some wins in the medal round.
Scott: If there’s one thing Finland is very good at, it’s consistently bringing a lineup that is the closest to an NHL lineup, both in terms of their star power and their depth. In fact, this roster is only $20 million over the salary cap, and in 2027-28, would be just $2 million over.
5. Czechia
Hunter’s Rank: 5th
Scott’s Rank: 5th
Scott: Czechia is far from the hockey powerhouse it was during the prime years of Jaromir Jagr and Dominik Hasek, but they’re still a tier above the rest of the class not in the big five (or four in the case of this tournament). Only Germany boasts a player at the level of David Pastrnak, and his chemistry with Roman Cervenka from the 2025 World Championships could be an x-factor in the tournament. The Czechs will be in tough playing in the same group as Canada, but they’re certainly the deepest team not in that top four.
Hunter: If Czechia finishes second in their group — or earn points against Canada in the opening game — they’ll set themselves up with a favorable quarterfinal matchup and give themselves a chance to play for their first medal since 2006.
6. Switzerland
Hunter’s Rank: 6th
Scott’s Rank: 7th
Hunter: This may be the most talented group Switzerland has sent to the Olympics, led by Nico Hischier, Roman Josi, J.J. Moser, Kevin Fiala and Timo Meier. Jonas Siegenthaler is a strong defender in his own end who will be tasked with shutting down their opponents’ top forwards. While the Swiss have never medalled at the Olympics, they’ve finished with back-to-back silver medals at the 2024 and 2025 World Championships, respectively.
Scott: I’m particularly interested to see how Hischier performs. He’s developed a reputation as one of the league’s best defensive forwards, even though his defensive numbers indicate almost the exact opposite over the past few seasons. He’s going to be trusted with top competition, so Switzerland will need his Selke Trophy contender form to return if they want to make some noise in this tournament. It’s his inability to do that in recent seasons which also swung me more in favor of Germany here.
7. Germany
Hunter’s Rank: 7th
Scott’s Rank: 6th
Scott: While the Swiss have some interesting talents on their team, and we all know I’m a fan of J.J. Moser, I’m an even bigger fan of Moritz Seider. That man was born for this role with Germany after years of being thrown to the wolves with the Detroit Red Wings. And of course, they have this guy named Leon Draisaitl, who can take over a game on his own. I’d even argue Tim Stutzle is currently better than any player on Switzerland, and their goaltending is a bit more established against NHL competition with Philipp Grubauer’s play this season.
Also, Germany likely only has to worry about the Americans, as they are a step above Denmark and Latvia. While Switzerland shouldn’t have any problems against France, they have to deal with Canada and Czechia.
Hunter: I would sacrifice a lot of things to see the Germans defeat the Americans. I never thought I’d type that sentence, but alas…
8. Slovakia
Hunter’s Rank: 8th
Scott’s Rank: 8th
Hunter: Slovakia earned their first Olympic medal in hockey in 2022, partly due to there being a lack of NHLers, and partly due to Juraj Slafkovsky going on a tear, scoring seven goals in seven games and earning tournament MVP honors. This team lacks NHL-level talent beyond a few players, although they will likely earn points with a potential win over Italy.
Scott: It’s a shame to see Slovakia’s talent pool after being one of the sports’ best during the days of Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara. Hopefully a strong performance from Slafkovsky can spark a resurgence in their hockey program.
9. Denmark
Hunter’s Rank: 10th
Scott’s Rank: 9th
Scott: We’re splitting hairs between Denmark and Latvia. They have similarly deep rosters, you could make an argument for either team’s goaltending situation being the better one, and they’re both in the same group, which means they’ll face the same competition in Germany and the United States. But the difference for me is that the Danes have a bit of a higher ceiling with their NHL talent. Nikolaj Ehlers is easily the best player between either of these teams, and considering his impact in the NHL while being notoriously underplayed, I’m curious to see what kind of damage he can do as the guy. I also like Oliver Bjorkstrand more than anyone on Latvia, and those two could prove to be the difference makers in that matchup against Latvia. Frederik Andersen also has the higher ceiling among any of the goaltenders, although he is a much bigger wild card considering his performance in recent seasons.
Hunter: I’m in agreement with Scott in that Denmark has a higher ceiling and that their best players far exceed Latvia’s. Part of my reasoning for picking Latvia is because international hockey and two-week sample sizes make no sense, which also describes how the Latvians perform internationally. But if we’re going by gut feeling, Andersen has the chance to steal wins for the Danes in Group B.
10. Latvia
Hunter’s Rank: 9th
Scott’s Rank: 10th
Hunter: I can’t think of a country that comes up more in bar conversation than Latvia, and how they took a 1-1 game into the third period against Canada in 2014, nearly triggering a catastrophic result for the Canadians before losing 2-1. As for this year’s edition, there’s a number of active NHLers and drafted prospects, as well as two netminders who can keep up with the best in the world. But with a lack of NHL-caliber skill, it’s hard to see them earn any points against one of Germany or Denmark.
Scott: We won’t see the impact of it at this tournament, but I’d love to see how Latvia grows as a hockey developing nation in the wake of their win over Canada in the 2025 World Juniors. At the very least, we could see the beginning of that with Alberts Smits, who’s the only draft-eligible player in the tournament and is projected to be a top 10-15 pick this year.
11. France
Hunter’s Rank: 11th
Scott’s Rank: 11th
Scott: Make no mistake, the biggest thing France has going for them to not be in last place on this list is that they’re not in this tournament by default. They’ve had their moments in the past in international hockey (most notably their 3-2 shootout win over Canada at the 2014 World Championships), but they lack the high-end talent OR the depth to compete with most of the teams in this tournament. They might not be an easy out on any given night, but I’d be surprised if we see them past the preliminary round.
12. Italy
Hunter’s Rank: 12th
Scott’s Rank: 12th
Hunter: As the host nation, Italy automatically gets a berth into the tournament. Goaltender Damian Clara was drafted in the second round of the 2023 NHL Entry draft by the Ducks and is getting plenty of starts in Sweden’s top domestic league. Dan Tedesco played in the NCAA with St. Cloud State and has spent the last four seasons dominating the United Kingdom’s top league. But the Italians keeping any game within two or three goals will have locals screaming “un miracolo!”
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