Making a Team Canada 'B team' for the 2026 Winter Olympics

With the Canadian Olympic team named the mystery is over. Though the Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid was a lock for the team, several other Oilers were left off.

Let’s take a look at some alternate reality teams to see how some other Oilers might find their way onto a team Canada roster.

Who would make a secondary team

A popular exercise is to pick a secondary team. Canada has a lot of great players available to them, and some wonder if a second team might even perform well at the Olympics. Forming this team starts simply, rounding up the biggest omissions. Players who were part of the 4 Nations Face-off might stand out as well. The rest of the exercise becomes more difficult, as there is a clog of players who are deserving of recognition.

Some of the headlining omissions are Connor Bedard, Wyatt Johnston, Mark Scheifele, Jakob Chychrun, and Matthew Schaefer. Travis Konecny was on the 4 Nations Face-off, but left off of the Olympic roster. From an Oilers perspective, Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman are firmly among this group, which forms the foundation of this team.

Some other Oilers begin to get consideration beneath that, though their fit on the team requires more context. Some might opt to have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Tristan Jarry, or Darnell Nurse on a hypothetical second team Canada. These decisions might be contextual given the makeup of the rest of the team.

Forwards to consider

After the locks, this exercise becomes quite difficult. Near the top, with elite players, there are fewer options. The further down the rankings one goes the harder it is to distinguish between all the options. For this reason, filling out the roster might have more to do with style and fit than anything else.

Hyman is a great foil to many of the skilled scorers and playmakers on the roster. He slots in nicely alongside two of the offensive leaders in Bedard and Scheifele. The rest of the lineup might look something like this.

Bedard—Scheifele—Hyman
Guenther—O’Reilly—Johnston
Vilardi—Thomas—Stamkos
Konecny—Byfield—Tippett

On the outside looking in are some viable options, including Nugent-Hopkins. Other players might inspire more upside, but Nugent-Hopkins would undoubtedly be a good connector. As a playmaker he is in tough against Gabe Vilardi, Quinton Byfield, and Travis Konecny.

His versatility as a centre is another point in his favour, but there will be other options who might be more useful. Matt Barzal might be a similar option, while John Tavares plays a heavier game and brings a greater proficiency in the face-off dot. Claude Giroux rarely plays centre anymore, but his talents and experience are notable.

This roster adds some bigger power wingers to diversify the makeup. Owen Tippett and Dylan Guenther offer some of that, while Beckett Sennecke should be in consideration. Sennecke will continue to improve, and could be as likely to make the 2030 Olympic team as anyone on this mock roster.

Also worth considering are Dylan Cozens, a big physical centre, and Drake Batherson, a well rounded playmaking winger. In all, the extra two forward spots might be a decision between Nugent-Hopkins, Tavares, Giroux, and Barzal.

Who could make up the defence

The blueline might be even deeper than the forward group, and perhaps a greater percentage of it is easy enough to decide. Evan Bouchard is a lock, paired with the young star Matthew Schaefer. There is undoubtedly an offensive flair to this group, as Darren Raddysh and Noah Dobson are great options on the right side behind Bouchard. For this reason, adding a defensive right shot like Mackenzie Weegar is imperative. On the left side, Chychrun is a great option behind Schafer.

The real decisions come in deciding the final two left shots, where Nurse enters the conversation. It might be important to add penalty killers to this group. Thomas Chabot and Owen Power might be the direct competition for Nurse here, but others like Adam Pelech might be more attractive given the makeup of the blueline. There are certainly other players that deserve consideration, but Nurse has a legitimate chance of being included.

Schaefer—Bouchard
Chychrun—Weegar
Nurse—Raddysh
Chabot—Dobson

Goalies up in the air

After Mackenzie Blackwood, there might not be any clear options for this roster. Tristan Jarry and Stuart Skinner are certainly in the conversation, while Jet Greaves might be able to make a case for himself. Scott Wedgewood has been outplaying his reputation for a while now, and might deserve more credit as a viable option. Sam Montembeault and Adin Hill were on the Four Nations Face-off roster, but might be in tough given their performances this season.

It is not impossible that Jarry and Skinner make the team. Their experience might make them more reliable options than an upstart like Greaves, for example.

Blackwood
Skinner
Jarry