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2026 Olympic men's hockey predictions: Podium, MVP, and more

Julian Catalfo / theScore

Hockey fans get to watch NHL stars compete at the Olympics for the first time in 14 years when the men's tournament begins Wednesday, and theScore is keen to predict how it'll unfold.

Our hockey editorial staff - Michael Bradburn, Kyle Cushman, John Matisz, Sean O'Leary, and Josh Wegman - took a crack at predicting the medalists and individual award winners.

Podium

Editor Gold 🥇 Silver 🥈 Bronze 🥉
Bradburn Canada 🇨🇦 United States 🇺🇸 Finland 🇫🇮
Cushman Canada 🇨🇦 United States 🇺🇸 Czechia 🇨🇿
Matisz Canada 🇨🇦 Sweden 🇸🇪 United States 🇺🇸
O'Leary Canada 🇨🇦 United States 🇺🇸 Czechia 🇨🇿
Wegman Canada 🇨🇦 Sweden 🇸🇪 United States 🇺🇸

A clean sweep for Canada, which has won each of the last four international best-on-best tournaments, with the most recent coming at last year's 4 Nations Face-Off.

Tournament MVP

Editor Prediction
Bradburn Nathan MacKinnon 🇨🇦
Cushman Connor McDavid 🇨🇦
Matisz Nathan MacKinnon 🇨🇦
O'Leary Nathan MacKinnon 🇨🇦
Wegman Cale Makar 🇨🇦

MacKinnon is our favorite to take home tournament MVP after doing so at last year's 4 Nations with four goals in as many games. He's also the front-runner to win the 2026 Hart Trophy.

Top forward

Editor Prediction
Bradburn Nathan MacKinnon 🇨🇦
Cushman Connor McDavid 🇨🇦
Matisz Nathan MacKinnon 🇨🇦
O'Leary Nathan MacKinnon 🇨🇦
Wegman Connor McDavid 🇨🇦

MacKinnon gets the nod again, but don't sleep on McDavid, who leads the NHL with 96 points at the break.

Top defenseman

Editor Prediction
Bradburn Cale Makar 🇨🇦
Cushman Quinn Hughes 🇺🇸
Matisz Quinn Hughes 🇺🇸
O'Leary Quinn Hughes 🇺🇸
Wegman Rasmus Dahlin 🇸🇪

Hughes missed the 4 Nations due to injury, but he's ready to show the world how dominant he can be. His game has taken off since being traded to the Minnesota Wild, racking up 34 points in 26 appearances.

Top goaltender

Editor Prediction
Bradburn Juuse Saros 🇫🇮
Cushman Lukas Dostal 🇨🇿
Matisz Logan Thompson 🇨🇦
O'Leary Lukas Dostal 🇨🇿
Wegman Filip Gustavsson 🇸🇪

This is our most diverse selection, with four players receiving recognition. Dostal has been one of the NHL's most underrated goalies the last few years on an Anaheim Ducks team that surrenders a lot of chances in front of him.

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