Canada 2026 Olympic Roster Projections: Evan Bouchard in the lineup after ‘snubbing’ at 4 Nations Face-Off

The Edmonton Oilers are going to be well-represented at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina.

With NHL players participating in the Olympics for the first time in over a decade, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are among the handful of star players who will be making their debuts on international hockey’s biggest stage.

Which other Oilers will be suiting up for their countries next winter?

Over at Daily Faceoff, Matt Larkin and Jeff Marek made predictions for Canada’s roster at the 2026 Olympics. Both Larkin and Marek included Evan Bouchard on their rosters, projecting him to play either on an offensive pairing with Thomas Harley of the Dallas Stars or alongside a defensive defender in Travis Sanheim of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Whereas Canada’s forward group was its clear strength before and during the 4 Nations, its D-corps left room for improvement in my opinion. For starters, I’ve righted the silly wrong of snubbing Bouchard. He’s one of the most dynamic puck-movers of his generation, he brings a booming shot, and if you pair him with the rangy Sanheim you recreate Bouchard’s Edmonton Oilers partner Mattias Ekholm. Parayko may have passed the eye test and earned respect with his fisticuffs at the 4 Nations, but he actually struggled; Canada owned just 38.8 percent of 5-on-5 expected goals with him on the ice. So we put the big, sturdy righty Weegar in that spot this time and move Parayko into a reserve role.

Marek also noted that Bouchard gives Canada another option as a puck-moving defenceman with a big slapshot to feature on their power play.

Even though Cale Makar will anchor every Team Canada power play, it’s always wise to have different looks, and Bouchard provides backup from the point on the power play and acts as a major shooting threat and rebound generator.

Bouchard broke out in 2023-24 with 82 points over 81 regular-season games and then had a historically productive playoff run with the Oilers, scoring 32 points over 25 games. He followed that up in 2024-25 with 14 goals and 67 points in 82 games before adding 23 points in 22 playoff games.

A slow start to Bouchard’s season played a role in his not getting the call for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. If he has a strong start to the 2025-26 season, it’ll be difficult for Canada to leave a puck-moving defender with 81 points across 75 NHL playoff games to his name.

View Daily Faceoff’s predictions for Team Canada’s roster at the 2026 Olympics