Breaking down Finland’s 2026 Olympic men’s hockey roster

Fresh off finishing fourth overall at the 4 Nations Face-Off in early 2025, Team Finland will look to return to its plucky, dragon-slaying ways at the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina.

Finnish GM Jere Lehtinen already had a tough job before star center Aleksander Barkov sustained a devastating knee injury during Florida Panthers training camp in September. Now? The odds are stacked against the Finns, but they’ll surely put forth a gutsy performance in their return to best-on-best competition.

Let’s take a closer look at Finland’s roster for the men’s ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

FORWARDS (14)

Joel Armia (LA)
Sebastian Aho (Car)
Mikael Granlund (Ana)
Erik Haula (Nas)
Roope Hintz (Dal)
Kaapo Kakko (Sea)
Oliver Kapanen (Mtl)
Joel Kiviranta (Col)
Artturi Lehkonen (Col)
Anton Lundell (Fla)
Eetu Luostarinen (Fla)
Mikko Rantanen (Dal)
Teuvo Teravainen (Chi)
Eeli Tolvanen (Sea)

DEFENSEMEN (8)

Miro Heiskanen (Dal)
Henri Jokiharju (Bos)
Mikko Lehtonen (ZSC Lions)
Esa Lindell (Dal)
Olli Maatta (Uta)
Nikolas Matinpalo (Ott)
Niko Mikkola (Fla)
Rasmus Ristolainen (Phi)

GOALTENDERS (3)

Kevin Lankinen (Van)
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buf)
Juuse Saros (Nas)

On the surface, this roster doesn’t look a whole lot different from the one the Finns brought to the 4 Nations, but the loss of Barkov changes the entire dynamic for the group. There’ll be a whole lot of debate over which forward line should handle most of the tough matchups, and it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see Team Finland head coach Antti Pennanen look to Barkov’s Panthers teammate and protegée Anton Lundell to do more than his fair share of the heavy lifting. Failing that, expect to see a whole lot of Sebastian Aho.

The clear top forward for this Finnish group is Mikko Rantanen, who has admirably settled into his new digs with the Dallas Stars after a 2024-25 season rife with turmoil. If you’ll remember, the 4 Nations took place right in the middle of what turned into a saga surrounding Rantanen last year, during which he found himself in Carolina against his wishes before being traded for the second time in a matter of weeks. Rantanen managed just one goal in three games at the 4 Nations amidst all that noise, but he should have a much easier time finding his way into the fabric of the tournament in now that everything has quieted down.

Team Finland truly is a showcase for Dallas Stars talent, with Rantanen being joined by teammates Roope Hintz, Miro Heiskanen, and Esa Lindell at the Olympics. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Finns put out a starting lineup including all four Stars players for most of their games. Heiskanen and Lindell should form Finland’s top pairing and will be relied upon to play huge minutes, with Heiskanen in particular being trusted to play in every possible situation.

Mikael Granlund, another former Star, led the Finns in scoring with four points in three games at the 4 Nations. Montreal Canadiens sharpshooter Patrik Laine finished second in team scoring, but he won’t be available this time around due to an injury (more on that later). The Finns scored just eight goals in three games at the 4 Nations, with their only win coming in overtime against Team Sweden by a 4-3 final score.

Beyond Heiskanen and Lindell, Finland’s defensive group is just okay, with Panthers rearguard Niko Mikkola likely being asked to do a lot more in Italy than what he’s accustomed to in the NHL. Another name worth keeping tabs on: Rasmus Ristolainen, the Philadelphia Flyers veteran who only recently returned to action after missing the first two months of the season. Risto can be an adventure, but he should have a pretty comfortable spot on Mikkola’s right side in Finland’s top four.

Fortunately for Team Finland, they have Juuse Saros playing behind that semi-porous defensive group. Saros has a long track record of stealing games and putting up great numbers, although his results have declined somewhat over his most recent three seasons behind a deteriorating Nashville Predators group. Saros is an incredibly athletic goaltender who can elevate any team, but if he stumbles in Milan, he’s got a pair of decent backups in Kevin Lankinen and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

Biggest reach

With comparatively few options available to them, it’s hard to call anyone on this Finnish team a reach, per se. This isn’t a situation where we can debate the merits of, say, Team Canada leaving Connor Bedard or Sam Bennett at home. The Finns brought basically every notable NHLer available to them, with only a couple of small exceptions.

It’s probably fair to point out that the likes of Olli Maatta and Mikko Lehtonen wouldn’t have much of a chance of playing in the Olympics were they from most other major hockey nations, with Maatta averaging fewer than 12 minutes per game with the Utah Mammoth this year and Lehtonen having played his most recent NHL game with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2021, but the alternatives would be … Urho Vaakanainen and Juuso Valimaki? Not much to go on there.

Biggest omission

Most of Finland’s major NHL exports are here, with each of their top 14 scorers from the 2025-26 season making the team. Aside from Barkov, Laine is the biggest name not taking part, but he’s been sidelined since late October while recovering from a core muscle injury. With that lingering health concern still keeping Laine out of the Canadiens’ lineup, nobody really expected to see the streaky winger named to the Olympic team.

If anyone on this Finnish roster does end up sustaining an injury between now and the start of the tournament, don’t be surprised if Vancouver Canucks forward Aatu Räty ends up getting the call. The young center won the Calder Cup with the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks last season and has established himself as a quality bottom-six option in Vancouver this year, collecting 11 points in 31 games while going 61.3 percent in the faceoff circle. He was one of the main pieces the Canucks received for Bo Horvat, who was named to Team Canada’s roster earlier this week. Other possible injury replacement options for the Finns include Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Matias Maccelli, and (in net) Joonas Korpisalo.

Burning question

How will the center depth fare in Barkov’s absence? It’s the question, obviously. Barkov is one of the very best players in the world, and while it’s not fair to say Finland’s hopes live and die with the two-time Stanley Cup champion, their chances certainly aren’t the same without him on their roster. We’ll see a lot more from the likes of Aho, Hintz, and Lundell than we might’ve expected, and if they can coalesce into a passable Barkov facsimile, then the Finns might still be able to go on a medal run. If not … it might open the door for other nations to steal their thunder.

Projected Lines

Lehkonen-Hintz-Rantanen
Granlund-Aho-Teravainen
Kapanen-Lundell-Tolvanen
Haula-Luostarinen-Armia
Kakko, Kiviranta

Heiskanen-Lindell
Mikkola-Ristolainen
Lehtonen-Matinpalo
Maatta, Jokiharju

Saros
Lankinen
Luukkonen

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