2026 Men's Olympic Hockey Gold Medal Picks

National Hockey League players are back at the Winter Olympics for the first time in over a decade. Which nation will take home the gold medal when the men's best-on-best event concludes on Feb. 22?

Let's take a look at the latest Olympic Men's Tournament futures to see who's favored. Odds are subject to change.

To Win Gold
Canada	+110	+110	+110
USA	+200	+200	+200
Sweden	+700	+700	+700
Finland	+1200	+1200	+1200
Czechia	+2200	+2200	+2200
Switzerland	+2800	+2800	+2800
Germany	+7500	+7500	+7500
Slovakia	+7500	+7500	+7500
Denmark	+25000	+25000	+25000
Latvia	+25000	+25000	+25000
France	+40000	+40000	+40000
Italy	+40000	+40000	+40000

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Canada favored to win gold

Canada (+110) has captured the past four best-on-best tournaments. The Great White North's squad features the NHL's top two goal and point producers in Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, who scored the overtime winner against Team USA at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off championship.

The Canucks also have Sidney Crosby, seeking his third Olympic gold medal, and two-time Norris Trophy winning defenseman Cale Makar. However, starting goaltender Jordan Binnington enters Milano Cortina 2026 with a .856 save percentage.

"I just want to win a gold medal, that's the only thing that matters. There are a lot of great players on [Team Canada], everyone is going to play a role, everyone is going to play a part. The goal is just to win a gold, that's it." - Connor McDavid#MilanoCorina2026 🇨🇦🏒 pic.twitter.com/nBWaSaxuzk

— Eric Friesen 🏒 (@EricJFriesen) February 11, 2026

Is Team USA better?

Team USA (+200) defeated the Canadians 3-1 in the 4 Nations round-robin last February before falling 3-2 in the gold medal game. While the Americans can't match their rivals' firepower up front, they're loaded on the backend with 2024 Norris winner Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy, Jaccob Slavin and Zach Werenski, who's second among NHL defensemen with 20 goals and 62 points.

More importantly, the trifecta of Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman gives Team USA the best goaltending in the tournament by a mile... if they play the right one.

Other medal contenders

Sweden (+700) won silver at Sochi 2014, the last time NHL players participated in the Olympics. While the Swedes always sport a strong team, they are dealing with some injury concerns. Would-be first-line center Leo Carlsson will miss the tournament, as will blueliner Jonas Brodin, and William Nylander's status is unclear for the opener.

Finland (+1200) claimed gold at the 2022 Beijing Games when NHLers weren't on the ice, and placed last at the 4 Nations Face-Off, finishing with no regulation wins. Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz and Sebastian Aho give the Fins plenty of scoring and they have quality defenders like Miro Heiskanen, but the loss of two-time Cup champion Aleksander Barkov will be too much to bear.

Your 2026 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team 🇺🇸 #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/tX6PfCzGEf

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) February 10, 2026

Avoid the longshots

Czechia (+2200) has a 400+ goal scorer in David Pastrnak, Slovakia (+7500) has young sniper Juraj Slafkovsky and Germany (+7500) has a former NHL MVP in Leon Draisaitl, but none of these clubs can match the talent and depth of Canada and Team USA.

2026 Men's Olympic Hockey Gold Medal Picks

If we were confident Team USA (+200) would opt for Oettinger or Swayman between the pipes rather than Hellebuyck, who's had a long history of choking in big games, we'd gladly take the Americans at 2-to-1 odds.

Instead, we'll roll with Connor McDavid and the Canadians at +110, expecting Logan Thompson to take the reins in net before the gold medal game.

Canada Men's Hockey Gold

+110

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