August 5, 2025 by Eric Friesen

Edmonton Oilers’ stars Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard were among the 42 NHL players invited to attend the Hockey Canada Orientation Camp from August 26-28 in Calgary in preparation for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy on Friday.

McDavid, who scored the tournament-winning goal in overtime for Canada at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, was one of six players already named to the Canadian national team on June 16. The Newmarket, Ontario native is set to become just the fourth active Oilers’ player to represent Team Canada at the Winter Olympics since NHL participation began in 1998, joining Ryan Smyth in 2002 and 2006, Eric Brewer in 2002 and Chris Pronger in 2006.

The last time four Oilers’ skaters represented Canada in best-on-best international competition was in the 1987 Canada Cup, including Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson and Paul Coffey.

Here’s my prediction on which Oilers’ players will be selected to play for Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics:

Zach Hyman

Zach Hyman should not only be on Team Canada, but also start the tournament on the first line with McDavid, too. Since arriving in Edmonton in the fall of 2021, Hyman has been McDavid’s most consistent linemate and delivered excellent results. With little practice time for the national team ahead of the Olympics, giving the best player in the world a winger that perfectly complements his otherworldly skills, like Hyman, seems like a relatively straightforward decision for Head Coach Jon Cooper.

While Hyman would be a great fit with McDavid from a chemistry standpoint, he also deserves a spot on Team Canada based on merit. The 33-year-old ranks fifth in the league in goals among Canadian-born players over the past three seasons, with 117, trailing only Brayden Point (139), Sam Reinhart (127), Nathan MacKinnon (125) and McDavid (122). The four players with more goals than him during that span have already been named to Team Canada, and Hyman has undoubtedly earned the honour of donning the red maple leaf in February as well.

Hyman scored a career-high 54 goals in 2023-24 and a league-leading 16 goals in the 2024 playoffs, which is the most by any player since Joe Sakic potted 18 goals in the 1996 playoffs. The Toronto, Ontario native also joined McDavid and Auston Matthews as the only players in the salary cap era to score 70 goals in a combined regular season and playoffs. In addition to his impressive finishing ability, Hyman forces turnovers with his aggressive forechecking, is reliable defensively and consistently wins races to loose pucks all over the ice.

In my opinion, the only thing that could hold Hyman back from securing a spot on Team Canada would be a poor first-half of the season offensively due to the dislocated wrist he suffered during Game 5 of the 2025 Western Conference Final on May 27. Even so, Hyman has six months to fully recover before the Olympics begin on February 12, and he checks off every box the Hockey Canada brass should be looking for in a forward.

Evan Bouchard

Evan Bouchard was arguably the most notable omission from Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off this past February. Then, when Shea Theodore sustained an upper-body injury in Canada’s first game of the tournament, Bouchard seemed like the obvious choice to take his spot on the roster. However, he was snubbed once again in favour of Thomas Harley.

While Canada ultimately won the tournament, it was still a mistake to leave Bouchard off the team. The 25-year-old ranks second in goals (32), assists (117) and points (149) among Canadian-born defencemen since 2023-24, behind only Cale Makar. His playoff numbers are even better. Bouchard is one of only four defenceman in NHL history to record 30 points in a single playoff year, he holds the NHL record for assists by a defenceman in a single playoff year (26), and he has the second-highest points per game average by a defenceman in NHL history (1.08).

The Oakville, Ontario native also brings a ton of big-game experience, having helped the Oilers reach consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances in 2024 and 2025. Bouchard has a cannon for a slap shot and a hard, accurate wrist shot that can beat goalies clean from distance. He’s also elite at finding open teammates with long passes for a breakaway or odd-man rush and distributes the puck well inside the offensive zone.

Though his defensive play is often considered a weakness, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Bouchard excels at suppressing shot attempts, defending the rush and retrieving pucks in the corners. Yes, he’s prone to the odd glaring mistake in his own zone that can cost his team, but he typically makes three or four excellent plays for every one defensive gaffe.

All-in-all, Bouchard is one of the best defenceman in the NHL and should be a lock to make Team Canada in 2026.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

While it’s great a honour for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to earn an invite to Hockey Canada’s camp, he’s likely more of a long shot to make national team in 2026. If this tournament were held two years ago when he was coming off a career-high 104-point season, I think his chances would have been better.

However, when you look at the list of elite forwards that were left off Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, Nugent-Hopkins would need to have an outstanding first-half of the 2025-26 season to even be on the bubble to crack this roster. The Burnaby, British Columbia native is still a solid two-way player who touches every part of the game at age 32, and while his versatility would surely increase his odds, he looks to be in tough to even grab one of the extra forward spots at this moment.