by Max Goren
The NHL will put on its 2025 Global Series games this weekend in Stockholm, Sweden, with the Pittsburgh Penguins taking on the Nashville Predators in a two-game set in front of an international audience. The Global Series serves as a reminder that Olympic hockey is right around the corner; rosters will be released in early January, and the first game of Milano Cortina 2026 will take place on February 11. With the event looming large in the second half of the NHL season, let’s answer the question many Carolina Hurricanes fans may be asking: how many Canes will be representing their respective countries in the 2026 Olympic games?
Let me preface any theoretical national team selections by saying this exercise assumes all players are at full health, although this is certainly not an assumption Canes fans have been able to make so far this season.
I’ll start with the virtual locks: as one of the best Finnish players in the league and the face of his nation in the lead-up to the Four Nations Faceoff, Sebastian Aho will represent Team Finland. Another player who garnered widespread attention at Four Nations, Jaccob Slavin, is the best defensive defenseman in the NHL (I said it), and will almost certainly be on the blueline for Team USA.
Only 17 players hailing from Denmark have ever played in the NHL. The all-time leading scorer among Danish players is Nikolaj Ehlers. The 10th player all-time in points is goaltender Frederik Andersen. Both were named to Team Denmark’s preliminary Olympic roster this past summer, so it’s safe to say they will represent the Danes at Milano Cortina 2026.
So far, that gives Carolina four nearly surefire selections to compete at the Olympic games. It’s unfortunate that geopolitical issues involving Russia preclude their participation in this tournament, as their team would have been extremely exciting to watch and would potentially have featured the likes of Alexander Nikishin and Andrei Svechnikov.
There is one more player that, while not a lock to make his national team roster, has a very solid case to make the cut, and that’s Seth Jarvis. Canada, being the birthplace of the sport of hockey, will always have a loaded arsenal of NHL talent, which makes Jarvis’ road to the Olympics a little more difficult. However, his great start to the season (10 goals and 5 assists in 16 games), coupled with a responsible two-way game and winning performance to reflect on from last season’s Four Nations gold-medal run, I think Jarvis will book his trip to Italy with Team Canada.
That brings Carolina to five players selected to national teams for the 2026 Winter Olympics. While I don’t think any other Hurricanes have a strong case for selection, there may be one more with an outside shot: Jesperi Kotkaniemi could be looked at as a depth option for Team Finland. He was listed by NHL.com on Team Finland’s projected roster over the summer, and he has been serviceable in a fourth-line role for Carolina this season. If Kotkaniemi were selected, that would bring Carolina to six players at Milano Cortina 2026, which would likely make the Canes one of the most, if not the most, represented teams at the tournament.
Puck Knowers’ Player to Watch of the Week: Cutter Gauthier, Anaheim Ducks
Ben Kindel could not continue the hot streak for my players to watch; after being selected last week, Kindel did not record a point in back-to-back losses for Pittsburgh. Sorry, Ben.
This week, I’d like to focus on Anaheim’s Cutter Gauthier. This 21-year-old has the definition of a green light when it comes to shooting, second only to Nathan MacKinnon in shots this season. Gauthier made headlines before playing his first NHL game, refusing to play for the Philadelphia team that drafted him and requesting a trade that came to fruition in January of 2024. Now, exactly 100 games into his NHL career, Gauthier is making himself known as a guy that gets the puck to the net, by any means necessary. That shooter’s mentality is paying off: he’s already got 12 goals in 17 games, helping Anaheim top the Pacific division.