2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics: Team Canada men’s hockey lines
Team Canada opens the men’s Olympic hockey tournament on Thursday at 10:40 a.m. ET against Czechia in Group A action.
Now that the final roster has been set, it’s time to turn to the lines. As skilled as Team Canada is, there’s almost an art to crafting the perfect lineup. Who can keep up with Connor McDavid? Which goalie gets the first start? How do you know who to scratch?
Let’s get into it based off Canada’s first practice.
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Team Canada
Canada enters the 2026 Olympics as a +105 favourite to win the gold medal in men’s hockey, but there’s still immense pressure on head coach Jon Cooper to put together a winning lineup.
While a lot of the Olympic roster is repeat of last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off team, Cooper elected to mix up the top line at Canada’s first practice over the weekend. Connor McDavid, who scored the OT winner in last year’s 4 Nations championship game, practiced with Macklin Celebrini and Tom Wilson on the top line, two players who didn’t make the 4 Nations team.
That gives Canada a pretty versatile top line consisting of McDavid’s speed, Celebrini’s creativity and Wilson’s toughness.
Forwards
Here’s how the forward lines looked at Canada’s first practice:
Celebrini – McDavid – Wilson
Marchand – MacKinnon – Suzuki
Stone – Crosby – Marner
Hagel – Horvat – Reinhart
Jarvis – Bennett
Cooper seems to be emphasizing balance, pairing an elite level scorer in Nathan MacKinnon with a responsible two-way player in Nick Suzuki on the second line.
The third line is a reliable veteran trio of captain Sidney Crosby, Mark Stone and Mitch Marner. Crosby has won virtually everything when it comes to hockey and there’s some familiarity between Vegas teammates Stone and Marner.
Bo Horvat, Brandon Hagel and Sam Reinhart appear poised to serve as an energy or shutdown line.
Finally, Sam Bennett and Seth Jarvis look like they’ll sit out the first game as scratches. That’s not a surprise as they are injury replacements, but I would be shocked if Bennett doesn’t end up in the lineup as an important piece as the tournament goes on.
Defence
Here’s the defensive pairings from the first practice:
Toews – Makar
Morrissey – Parayko
Harley – Doughty
Theodore – Sanheim
It’s no surprise to see Avalanche teammates Cale Makar and Devon Toews anchor the top pairing. Makar is arguably the best defenceman in the world and the chemistry between Makar and Toews has led to a Stanley Cup in Colorado and a 4 Nations victory for Canada.
The defensive unit as a whole is pure “don’t fix what isn’t broken”. It’s the same eight players that were on the 4 Nations roster, including Thomas Harley, who replaced an injured Shea Theodore last year.
Goaltenders
Binnington
Thompson
Kuemper
Goaltending is the biggest question mark on the roster. Jordan Binnington backstopped Canada to a win at the 4 Nations Face-Off, but he’s having the worst statistical season of his career.
Binnington should be the Game 1 starter, but you have to imagine he’ll have a short leash. Based on the depth chart, it appears that Logan Thompson is No. 2 and Darcy Kuemper is No. 3.
With Canada playing a back-to-back on Thursday (vs. Czechia) and Friday (vs. Switzerland), the plan is likely to give Binnington the first start and Thompson the second then reevaluate ahead of the group stage finale against France on Sunday.