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

For months, various projections have circulated that NHL players would be on their country’s roster for the 2026 Olympics.

Now those projections have turned into actual lists, reinforcing just how close the Milan-Cortina Games tournament is coming on February 11. This is the first time since 2014 that the Olympic Games will welcome NHL players.

Debates over how the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden, among other nations, might fare at the Olympics have led to several discussions. Give it enough time, and it’s possible that at least one of these conversations will eventually turn to Russia’s absence.

The International Olympic Committee suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in 2022 after it imposed sanctions claiming the country violated the Olympic Charter by invading Ukraine in 2022. A small group of Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris under a neutral flag.

The Russian hockey discourse has been going on since 2022. The latest entry took place before the 4 Nations showdown in Boston and Montreal last season. The introduction of the 4-Nation Showdown – as well as the return of NHL players to the Olympics – was a reboot of the NHL, allowing more of its players to compete in international competitions beyond the IIHF World Championships – an event that takes place every year in conjunction with the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

One of the reasons the NHL created the 4 Nations event was to create an international competition between the best. Of course, this raised the question of why countries like Czechia, Germany and Switzerland were omitted because they didn’t have enough NHL players, and the conversation also turned to Russia’s situation.

Discussions about Russia’s position in the hockey world have continued in the run-up to the Olympics, particularly regarding the number of NHL stars born in Russia. Here’s a hypothetical look at what a Russian Olympic team would have looked like in 2026.

Attackers and defenders

In this scenario, Russia would be one of the most dangerous teams at the Games, thanks to what they possess on the wings: their group includes superstars like Alex Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov and Artemi Panarin.

The concern for this team would be their options at center.

Evgeni Malkin was averaging 1.12 points per game earlier this season before suffering an upper-body injury that kept him sidelined for a month. He returned on January 8 and had two points in his first three games. Having a healthy Malkin return less than a month before the opening ceremonies would be one less problem for Russia with its centers. He can create for himself and others in a variety of situations, and is by far their most experienced center.

There have only been five Russian players in the NHL this season who have recorded over 100 faceoffs. Malkin is the highest scoring member of this group, with a success rate of 45.2%.

Who else makes the difference?

Rookie Danila Yurov has become the center of the Minnesota Wild’s top line, making him one of the strongest candidates for the Russian No. 2 position behind Malkin. Yurov has six goals and 16 points in 39 games. That’s already more points than other Russian NHL centers like Vladislav Namestnikov and Fedor Svechkov are expected to have for the remainder of the regular season. Namestnikov is on pace to have 16 points, while Svechkov is expected to finish with 17.

Namestnikov and Svechkov offer value in another area, in that they could be used on the penalty kill. Malkin’s last season of 10+ minutes on the penalty kill came in 2015-16, when he logged 15:19, while Yurov has 51 seconds on the PK in 2025-26.

But there are two KHL centers – Ruslan Abrosimov (Severstal Cherepovets) and Roman Kantserov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) – who are also worth considering.

Abrosimov is averaging 0.84 points per game this season. He won 50.2% of his 582 draws through January 12, while logging 1:19 in shorthanded minutes per game. Chicago Blackhawks prospect Kantserov is averaging 1.20 points per game after being moved to center at the start of the season. He has won 43.7% of his 647 faceoffs, averaging 0:44 in shorthanded ice time per game.

Abrosimov is the more proven center, has a healthy points per game average, has experience taking faceoffs and could help anchor a penalty. On the other hand, Kantserov’s high production might be too tempting to turn down, provided he only played center for one season.

Let’s say Russia chooses Abrosimov in this hypothetical configuration. Choosing Abrosimov, Malkin, Namestnikov and Yurov raises another question: Would it make more sense to have two wingers as extra forwards, or would Russia be better off taking an extra center and winger to make game-by-game adjustments?

The idea of ​​taking Kantersov presents an intrigue. The same can be said of young NHL wingers like Ivan Demidov or Matvei Michkov. What teams experienced at the 4 Nations reinforced the need for teams to have different options when it comes to their additional attackers. Pavel Buchnevich and Pavel Dorofeyev are just that. Buchnevich is about to play his sixth season of 100-plus minutes on the penalty kill and is a six-time 20-goal scorer. Dorofeyev finished with 35 goals last season and should finish with more than 30 this season.

In this hypothesis, Russia’s defensive configuration seems to pose fewer selection questions in comparison.

If anything, the biggest question Russia would have faced would have been which of its NHL defensemen it left at home. Russia has nine NHL defensemen playing an average of 19 minutes or more per game this season. This could have created a selection challenge, but is no longer an issue as Alexander Romanov suffered a right shoulder injury in November which would have seen him miss the Olympics.

Goalkeepers

Russia has plenty of talent on the wing and impressive defensive depth. These are two of his biggest strengths, but the most important item on his list would be the wealth of options in goal.

Simply put, Russia is in a golden age when it comes to goaltenders, how the country produces them, and the need for more NHL teams to find the next great one.

Former NHL goaltender and San Jose Sharks director of goaltending Evgeni Nabokov was set to be Russia’s goaltending coach if NHL players were allowed to play in the 2022 Olympics, and he was faced with a dilemma over who to pick for that team.

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

That’s what happens when a nation has three Vezina Trophy winners, Sergei Bobrovsky, Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy, while Ilya Sorokin has three top-six Vezina finishes.

Does this mean Russia would take its three Vezina winners and leave Sorokin at home if it goes to the Olympics in 2026? Or could it be Sorokin who makes the roster against Bobrovsky?

Bobrovsky won the last two Stanley Cups with the Florida Panthers. He has appeared in 47 playoff games over the last two postseasons, which is a record among all goaltenders. His 5.60 goals saved above average during that span ranks him third among goalies, while his .919 playoff save percentage is ninth among goalies who have faced more than 100 shots in the last two postseasons.

Sorokin has only appeared in one playoff game over the past two seasons. This happened in the third game of the 2024 first round, in which he was pulled after allowing three goals in 27:14. However, what he did during the same period in the regular season is what creates questions. No goalie has faced more shots between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons than Sorokin. He had the third-best save percentage among goalies with over 4,000 minutes, and he finished third in the GSAA, with a mark of 27.30.

The answer may lie in what they’ve done this season – and choosing options with the proverbial hot hand of the moment.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Shesterkin has the best GSAA in the NHL with over 600 minutes this season, at 18.13. Sorokin is fourth (12.34), while Vasilevsky is 15th (6.45). As for Bobrovsky? He’s 57th out of 60 qualified goalies, with a minus-11.69 record in a season that saw injuries significantly impact the Panthers’ roster in their bid to win a third straight Stanley Cup.

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