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