NHL Power Rankings: Future international-hockey hopefuls

For every high-five slapped over being named to a national team, there’s a hung head belonging to a really, really good hockey player who hoped to wear his county’s colours.

Every best-on-best roster selection comes with its share of snubs and Wednesday’s 4 Nations Face-Off reveal was no exception.

The good news for the disappointed Canadians, Americans, Swedes and Finns is that — after an eight-year hiatus from best-on-best action — hockey is about to enter an international golden era, with NHLers heading to the 2026 Winter Olympics in 14 months, followed by a World Cup of Hockey in 2028 and another Olympics two years after that.  

So, just as we’re about to make up for lost time on the international hockey calander, players are going to get multiple opportunities in the next half-decade to don that national team sweater.

With that in mind, we’re using this week’s edition of the Power Rankings to peer into the crystal ball and find some guys on each NHL team — including those with passports that say something other than Canada, Finland, Sweden or the United States — who won’t be at the 4 Nations, but could be picked to play with his countrymen either at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics in Italy or the 2028 World Cup.

(Given there is an International Ice Hockey Federation ban on Russia and Belarus from competition right now and no sense of when that could change, we won’t consider players from those countries).

1. Washington Capitals (17-6-2) It’s hard to imagine Canada’s crease situation won’t remain wide open next year, so with more strong work, Logan Thompson could push his way onto the Olympic roster. At 27 years old, he figures to get a couple more kicks at the can. Tom Wilson will continue to be a bubble guy for Canada and, who knows, with another step, maybe Connor McMichael gets in the discussion. Martin Fehervary is a slam dunk D-man for Slovakia at the 2026 Games and Lars Eller will be on the Danish squad that also qualified for Italy.

2. Minnesota Wild (17-4-4) Minnesota just traded for David Jiricek and, if he’s the defenceman they hope, he’ll almost certainly be skating for Czechia at the ’26 Olympics.

3. Toronto Maple Leafs (16-7-2) Matthew Knies’ big body has changed the complexion of Toronto’s top-six mix. Could his unique package and built-in chemistry with Auston Matthews get him on a Team USA roster in the next couple years?

4. Vegas Golden Knights (17-7-3) Tomas Hertl is a shoo-in for Czechia in 2026. Akira Schmid will likely be the man in the Swiss goal.

5. Winnipeg Jets (18-8-0) Mark Scheifele is too good not to get strong consideration for Canada again. Maybe two young Finns — forward Brad Lambert and D-man Ville Heinola — could push onto that team by 2028. Nik Ehlers will headline the Danish entry in ’26 and Nino Niederreiter will be called upon to score for the Swiss.

6. Los Angeles Kings (15-8-3) Quinton Byfield hasn’t taken off this year, but his size-and-strength combo could see him on a Canadian team by 2028. Maybe Drew Doughty has represented Canada for the last time — and that’s still a maybe — but look for Brandt Clarke to be the next right-shooting Kings defenceman who becomes a national team staple in Canada. Kevin Fiala will be counted on to shine for the Swiss.

7. Carolina Hurricanes (16-8-1) Martin Necas — currently tied for the scoring lead — is suddenly the most lethal Czech in the NHL. If Frederik Andersen happens to be healthy when the Olympics occur, he’ll be in the Danish crease.

8. New Jersey Devils (17-9-2) The Swiss Devils? Nico Hischier, Timo Meier and Jonas Siegenthaler will all suit up for Switzerland in 2026. Luke Hughes could absolutely join brothers Jack and Quinn on Team USA in the next couple years. Could Dougie Hamilton replace Alex Pietrangelo on the right side of Canada’s blueline in 2026 as the latter hits the back half of his 30s? Tomas Tatar, Simon Nemec (Slovakia) and Ondrej Palat (Czechia) will surely wear their countries’ colours.

9. Florida Panthers (15-9-2) As you’d expect, the defending champs are well represented at the 4 Nations with eight Cats — more than any other NHL squad — set to participate in the event. Could Aaron Ekblad — who is still just 28 — ever squeeze onto Team Canada? Uvis Balinskis will be the go-to D-man on the Latvian squad that qualified for the ’26 Games.    

10. Dallas Stars (16-9-0) Thomas Harley, Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven are all young Canadians who, by 2028, could be firmly in the mix for World Cup spots.

11. Vancouver Canucks (13-7-4) Any year Thatcher Demko is healthy, he’s going to be in the crease conversation for Team USA. Brock Boeser is in tough to crack that American forward group, but maybe he gets over the line one year if he’s on a scorching heater when they name the team. Pius Suter will suit up for the Swiss, while Arturs Silovs and Teddy Blueger will be a huge part of Latvia in 2026.

12. Edmonton Oilers (13-10-2) If Zach Hyman is back to being a 50-goal guy next year, he probably gets onto Team Canada for the Olympics. Stuart Skinner should also remain in the Canadian goalie mix. Hard as it is to wrap your brain around leaving a weapon like Evan Bouchard off, Cale Makar just figures to be running PP1 on Canada for at least another half-decade. Leon Draisaitl will surely captain Germany’s entry at the ’26 Games.

13. Tampa Bay Lighting (12-9-2) Canadians Brandon Hagel and, to a lesser degree, Anthony Cirelli are great examples of how a player can — in the span of a year or so — go from not being discussed at all for a national squad to making one of the best teams in a tournament. J.J. Moser will be a linchpin of the Swiss defence in 2026, same for Erik Cernak with Slovakia and Zemgus Girgensons will be on the Latvian team.

14. Boston Bruins (14-11-3) Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak figure to bring their Bruins chemistry to one of Czechia’s top lines at the Olympics.

15. Philadelphia Flyers (12-10-3) Back in the summer, you’d be hard-pressed to find a single person who would have thought both Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim would make Canada’s 4 Nations squad. But here we are. Could Cam York take off and make an American squad in the next couple years? Maybe, but it’s really hard to see who he would squeeze off of a loaded and fairly young blueline.

16. Colorado Avalanche (14-12-2) Undrafted Ivan Ivan has already done incredible work simply to make the NHL. At 22, he could be representing Czechia for years to come.

17. Calgary Flames (13-9-4) Could Calgary’s goalies square off against each other at the 2028 World Cup? It’s a longshot, but Czechia’s Dan Vladar and young American Dustin Wolf might just make it happen. Martin Pospisil will surely lineup for Slovakia in 2026.

18. St. Louis Blues (12-12-2) Robert Thomas’s fractured ankle this season scuttled any shot he had at making Team Canada. It would surprise nobody if he’s there in ’26 or ’28. Philip Broberg will surely work his way into the Team Sweden conversation as he establishes himself as a top-4 blue-liner in Missouri.

19. Columbus Blue Jackets (11-10-3) By the time 2027-28 rolls around, if Adam Fantilli isn’t in the mix to make Canada it will be a huge disappointment for Jackets fans. Elvis Merzlikins could man the Latvian crease in 2026.

20. New York Rangers (13-10-1) Alexis Lafreniere is going to keep pushing for a spot on Team Canada in the next couple years.

21. Pittsburgh Penguins (11-12-4) Who knows, maybe 22-year-old Joel Blomqvist bumps veteran Swedish netminders like Jacob Markstrom or Linus Ullmark by 2028.

22. New York Islanders (9-10-7) At 24, defenceman Noah Dobson figures to get lots of looks for Team Canada down the road.

23. Utah Hockey Club (10-11-4) Clayton Keller is already right there for Team USA. If picking the likes of Vincent Trochek and Brock Nelson backfires in February, Keller’s skilled game could well be at the Olympics 14 months from now. Logan Cooley has loads of talent, too, and should push into the conversation in the next couple years. And don’t bet against Dylan Guenther cracking a Canadian squad in 2026 or ’28. Karel Vejmelka is part of the Czech crease equation.

24. Detroit Red Wings (10-11-4) A couple years ago, you would have assumed Alex DeBrincat would be a Team USA fixture through the back half of this decade. But back-to-back 27-goal seasons (he’s on pace for 32 this season) are not going to cut it when you’re trying to make a stacked USA roster as a sniper. Moritz Seider will anchor the German defence in 2026 and Simon Edvinsson could be a Swedish mainstay soon.

25. Seattle Kraken (12-13-1) Hey, Canada has already looked into getting Joey Daccord a passport, so who knows! Seattle’s other goalie, Philipp Grubauer, will surely backstop Germany. It feels like Matty Beniers has a long way to go to push into the Team USA conversation and Brandon Montour is on the outer fringe of Canada’s defence corps. Oliver Bjorkstrand will be a huge part of the Danish squad.

26. Ottawa Senators (10-12-2) Tim Stutzle will be a go-to guy for the Germans in Italy and Jake Sanderson is going to keep pushing for a spot on the Team USA blue. Mads Sogaard will surely be one of Denmark’s goalies.

27. Buffalo Sabres (11-12-2) Tage Thompson is already a bubble guy for Team USA, so maybe he gets there next time out. Owen Power feels like an eventual lock for Canada, perhaps even as soon as next year. J.J. Peterka will be relied on to score goals for Germany in 2026 and Jiri Kulich could certainly represent Czechia next winter.

28. San Jose Sharks (10-13-5) Macklin Celebrini on Team Canada at the 2026 Games? Maybe. Macklin Celebrini on Team Canada at the 2028 World Cup? No doubt. Will Smith could well be a centre for Team USA at that point, too and Nico Sturm will surely be on the German club in Italy.

29. Anaheim Ducks (10-11-3) Lukas Dostal is already the man for Czechia in goal and that doesn’t figure to change any time soon. Countryman Radko Gudas will likely be on Czechia’s blueline for a couple more tournaments. Mason McTavish needs to get moving to become a real consideration for Canada and Cutter Gauthier may be a scoring threat for the Americans by 2028.

30. Montreal Canadiens (9-13-3) American Cole Caufield and Canadian Nick Suzuki could both be on their national teams in ’26 or ’28. Juraj Slafkovsky will be central to a Slovakian side that won a surprise bronze medal at the 2022 Games. Don’t be surprised if two defencemen — American Lane Hutson and Canadian Kaiden Guhle — are part of their national team discussions in the next couple years.

31. Nashville Predators (7-13-6) Roman Josi will be the face of Switzerland in 2026.

32. Chicago Blackhawks (8-16-2) Connor Bedard could, literally, be on every Canadian best-on-best team from next winter to 2040. Petr Mrazek is in the Czech goalie mix and Adam Gajan — a 2023 second-rounder — has already sparkled for Slovakia at the World Junior Championship and could be at the Olympics as a 21-year-old puckstopper next winter. Philip Kurashev will rep the Swiss and Lukas Reichel will try to scare up some goals for the Germans.