What would a Russian Olympic hockey team look like in 2026?

For months, there were various speculations about which NHL players would make their countries’ rosters for the 2026 Olympic Games.

Now those estimates have changed actual rosterWhich reinforces how quickly the tournament is coming to Milan Cortina on 11 February. This is the first time since 2014 that the Olympics will feature NHL players.

The discussion has sparked numerous debates over how other countries, including the United States, Canada, Finland, and Sweden, might perform at the Olympics. Give it enough time, and chances are at least one of those conversations might eventually come to fruition. Russia’s absence.

International Olympic Committee Russian Olympic Committee suspended in 2022 The ban came after saying the nation violated the Olympic charter by invading Ukraine in 2022. A small group of individual Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris under a neutral flag.

Russian discussions in hockey are ongoing through 2022. Latest entry before 4 nations face to face In Boston and Montreal last season. There was a reboot of the NHL, with more of its players competing in international competitions beyond the IIHF World Championships – an event held annually during the same time as the Stanley Cup Playoffs – featuring returning NHL players at the Olympics, as well as the beginning of the 4 Nations head-to-head.

One of the reasons the NHL organized the 4-nation event was to create a “best-on-best” international competition. Of course, this raised the question of why countries like Czechia, Germany, and Switzerland were left out because they did not have enough NHL players, and Russia’s position was also included in the conversation.

There is ongoing conversation about Russia’s status in the hockey world ahead of the Olympic Games, particularly regarding the number of Russian-born NHL stars. Here’s a hypothetical look at what the Russian Olympic team will look like in 2026.

Forward and defenseman

In this scenario, Russia would be one of the most dangerous teams in the game, thanks to their strengths – their group includes superstars such as Alex Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov And artemi panarin.

The area of ​​concern for this team will be its options at centre.

evgeni malkin He averaged 1.12 points per game early in the season, but was sidelined for a month with an upper body injury. He returned on January 8 and had two points in his first three games. Having a healthy Malkin back less than a month before the inauguration ceremony will be one less thing for Russia to worry about with its centers. He can create for himself and others in a variety of situations, and is their most accomplished center back by a wide margin.

There have been only five Russian players in the NHL this season who have recorded more than 100 faceoffs. Malkin is the most successful member of that group with a 45.2% success rate.

game

Evgeni Malkin scores a goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins on the power play

Evgeni Malkin scores a power-play goal against the Devils

Who else makes the cut?

Cheater danila yurov became minnesota wildwhich makes him one of the strongest candidates behind Malkin as Russia’s No. 2. Yurov has six goals and 16 points in 39 games. This already has more points than other Russian NHL centres. Vladislav Namestnikov And Fedor Svechkov The remainder are projected to take place during the regular season. Namestnikov is expected to have 16 points, while Svechkov is projected to finish with 17 points.

Namestnikov and Svechkov provide value in another area, in which they can be used on the penalty kill. Malkin’s last season of more than 10 short-handed minutes came in 2015-16, when he logged 15:19 minutes, while Yurov has 51 seconds on the PK in 2025-26.

But, there are a pair of KHL centers – Ruslan Abrosimov (Severstal Cherepovets) and Roman Kantserov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) – that are also worth considering.

Abrosimov is averaging 0.84 points per game this season. He has won 50.2% of his 582 draws through January 12, while averaging 1:19 short-handed minutes per game. chicago blackhawks Having been moved to center at the beginning of the season, Chance Kantserov is averaging 1.20 points per game. He has won 43.7% of his 647 faceoffs, while averaging 0:44 of short-handed ice time per game.

Abrosimov is the more proven center, he has good points per game, has experience winning faceoffs and can help on the penalty kill. On the other hand, Kantserov’s high production may be too tempting to reject, with the caveat that he has only played center for one season.

Let’s say Russia chose Abrosimov in this hypothetical setup. Going with Abrosimov, Malkin, Namestnikov and Yurov raises another question: Would it make more sense to have two wingers as extra forwards, or would it be better for Russia to take an extra center and an extra winger to make game-by-game adjustments?

The idea of ​​taking on Kantersov offers intrigue. The same can be said about young NHL wingers ivan demidov Or matvei michkov. What teams experienced in the 4 countries reinforced the need for teams to have a variety of options when it comes to additional forwards. pavel buchnevich And pavel dorofeyev That’s it. Buchnevich is on pace for his sixth season of over 100 short-handed minutes, and is a six-time 20-goal scorer. Dorofeyev scored 35 goals last season, and is projected to score more than 30 goals this season.

Under this hypothetical, Russia’s defensive setup looks like it will have comparatively fewer selection questions.

If anything, the biggest question facing Russia will be which of its NHL defensemen it left at home. The Russian has nine NHL defensemen averaging 19 minutes or more per game this season. This could have created a selection challenge, but it was not an issue Alexander Romanov He suffered a right shoulder injury in November which caused him to miss the Olympics.

goaltender

Russia have a large amount of talent on the wing, and impressive defensive depth. These are two of its biggest strengths, but the most important component of its roster will be the abundance of options in goal.

Simply put, Russia is in the golden age of goaltendingHow the nation is producing them and the need for more NHL teams to find the next great team.

Former NHL goaltender and san jose sharks If NHL players are allowed to play in the 2022 Olympics, director of goaltending Evgeny Nabokov was to be Russia’s goaltending coach, and he faced the dilemma of who to select for that team.

“At some point I looked and asked myself, ‘How do I make a choice here?'” Nabokov told ESPN in 2023. “It’s almost like you can dream of having so many good goaltenders. But I have to pick three. Then, I have to pick who’s going to play. … It’s just unrealistic. You could probably say three of them are among the five best goaltenders in the world.”

This happens when a country has three Vezina Trophy winners sergey bobrovsky, Igor Shesterkin And Andrei VasilevskyWhereas Ilya Sorokin Vezina has been in the top six in voting three times.

Does this mean that if Russia goes to the Olympics in 2026 it will take all three of its Vezina winners and leave Sorokin at home? Or could it be Sorokin who makes the roster in Bobrovsky’s place?

Bobrovsky has won the last two Stanley Cups Florida Panthers. He has appeared in 47 playoff games in the two most recent postseasons, the most of any goaltender. His 5.60 goals saved above average in that time frame ranks third among goaltenders, while his .919 playoff save percentage ranks ninth among goaltenders who have faced more than 100 shots in the last two postseasons.

Sorokin has appeared in only one playoff game over the past two seasons. This came in Game 3 of the first round in 2024 in which he was ejected after allowing three goals in 27:14. However, what he has done over the same period in the regular season raises questions. No goaltender faced more shots than Sorokin between the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons. He had the third-best save percentage among goalkeepers with over 4,000 minutes, and he was third in GSAA with 27.30 points.

Perhaps the answer lies in what he has done this season – and making choices with the proverbial hot hand at the moment.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Shesterkin has the best GSAA in the NHL this season at 18.13 with over 600 minutes. Sorokin is fourth (12.34), while Vasilevskiy is 15th (6.45). As for Bobrovsky? He ranked 57th out of 60 qualifying goaltenders, with a minus-11.69 points average on the season, as injuries impacted the Panthers’ lineup enough to win their third consecutive Stanley Cup.

So for this round, the nod goes to Sorokin, who has led the Islanders to a strong playoff position over more than half of the season behind Vasilevskiy and Shesterkin, the latter of whom week-to-week On January 5, after suffering a lower body injury.