Contemporary off the wildly in style 4 Nations Face-Off, many are trying ahead to the Milan-Cortina Olympics in lower than a 12 months.
For the second straight season, the NHL will pause its season for a best-on-best match, when the most effective gamers on earth will head to Italy for his or her first Olympics look since 2014.
The NHL is using excessive off the 4 Nations, because the gamers had been extremely engaged within the exhibition match. However the Olympics are the, pardon the pun, gold customary for hockey gamers, which suggests the stakes can be raised even.
Despite the fact that it’s a 12 months away, right here is every part it’s good to learn about betting the 2026 Winter Olympics Hockey match.
Olympic Hockey Odds
- Canada (+175)
- United States (+190)
- Sweden (+500)
- Finland (+700)
- Czechia (+1400)
- Germany (+5000)
- Slovakia (+5000)
- Switzerland (+5000)
2026 Winter Olympics Favorites
Canada (+175)
Canadians can be proper to inform you they’ve received each best-on-best match since 2006, together with their exhilarating 4 Nations Face-Off title on Connor McDavid’s tournament-winning objective within the championship recreation.
McDavid will once more lead a superstar-laden roster that ought to function fellow Hart Trophy winners Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, plus perennial Norris Trophy candidate Cale Makar. Canada is loaded and rightly deserving of its place as match favorites, despite the fact that it must go away North America – the place it has not at all times dominated throughout Olympic play.
Jordan Binnington answered a lot of Canada’s massive query marks by backstopping the nation to the championship, however there are bona fide issues about Canada’s goaltending.
2026 Milan-Cortina Hockey Contenders
United States (+190)
Hockey Canada had been chomping on the bit to get this technology of gamers right into a best-on-best match, and if the 4 Nations Face-Off was any indication, USA Hockey is correct there with Canada by way of expertise.
The People have nearly no flaws and had been proper there with Canada through the 4 Nations. Nonetheless, if Canada has angst about leaving North America, the U.S. ought to as properly, because the yanks haven’t medaled in hockey outdoors of their residence continent because the 1972 video games in Sapporo, Japan.
However with their expertise stage, the People ought to be in competition in a best-on-best match anyplace. The U.S. was the one nation with a Hart Trophy winner (Auston Matthews), Norris Trophy winner (Adam Fox) and Vezina Trophy winner (Connor Hellebuyck) on its 4 Nations roster, and Quinn Hughes – the reigning Norris winner and a favourite to repeat this 12 months – ought to play in Italy after lacking the 4 Nations match attributable to harm.
The one query at this level is whether or not the U.S. can beat Canada in a winner-take-all recreation. The People haven’t completed so because the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, shedding 4 straight knockout-stage video games, together with the 4 Nations championship recreation.
Sweden (+500)
The Swedes might not be as loaded, talent-wise, because the U.S. or Canada, however Sweden was the final nation to win a best-on-best match apart from Canada – in 2006 – and was the runner as much as Canada on the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Sweden’s roster ought to once more be dominant, defensively. The Swedes boast the likes of Norris Trophy winners Victor Hedman and Erik Karlsson plus Rasmus Dahlin and Jonas Brodin, whereas nonetheless having stable ahead expertise led by Mika Zibanejad, Viktor Arvidsson, William Nylander and extra.
The Swedes have had a bent to underachieve at marquee tournaments – they did once more in 4 Nations after they failed to achieve the championship recreation after shedding to each Finland and Canada in spherical robin play.
2026 Winter Olympic Hockey Longshots
Finland (+700)
The Finns ought to be the one different nation made up completely of NHL gamers, since Russia will once more be banned from illustration in Olympic competitors. The Finns could also be expertise poor in comparison with the nations listed above, however they’ve been scrappy and now have expertise, like Aleksander Barkov and Sebastian Aho.
The Finns have performed the function of little brother to Sweden – despite the fact that Finland did defeat Sweden in pool play, protecting the Swedes from reaching the championship recreation. Plus, Finland might have famous person expertise however is clearly fourth within the pecking order behind Canada, U.S. and Sweden, despite the fact that it performs an especially structured recreation.
Czechia (+1400)
Like Finland, the Czechs have sturdy NHL-caliber expertise however seemingly not sufficient to compete for the gold medal. The golden age of Czechia hockey was within the late-Nineteen Nineties, when the nation took gold in 1998 behind Dominik Hasek’s unbelievable play.
However Hasek isn’t strolling by means of that door. Despite the fact that we just like the pedigree of Ondrej Palat, plus the nice talent of David Pastrnak, Tomas Hertl and Martin Necas, Czechia seemingly doesn’t have the depth to compete – particularly with Petr Mrazek prone to have a tendency objective for the nation.
Hopefully Jaromir Jagr is part of the crew in some capability, since he nonetheless is taking part in in Kladno, regardless of the actual fact he can be 54 when the match begins subsequent February.
