Team Canada’s Olympic roster was announced this afternoon, and Philadelphia’s Travis Sanheim has made the cut. On the other hand, Flyers forward Travis Konecny hasn’t.
Sanheim, who made inroads when he had a strong appearance at the 4 Nations Face-Off, has grown into a quality, minute-munching, top-pairing defenseman. Although the roster will feature some defenseman who are obviously more offensively gifted, Team Canada could do a heck of a lot worse than seeing Sanheim possibly as a third-pairing blueliner. Team Canada Doug Armstrong said Sanheim’s size certainly didn’t hurt as Team Canada has some bigger, towering defenders.
Earlier this week, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet all but confirmed that Sanheim would be part of the squad when play begins in Milano/Cortina next February. The roster will be the first featuring National Hockey League players since 2014. In June, Canada announced the first six players to the roster: Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon, Oiler superstar Connor McDavid, Florida’s Sam Reinhart, Tampa’s Brayden Point, and Colorado defenseman Cale Makar.
Here are the 2⃣5⃣ players who will wear the 🍁 at #MilanoCortina2026! 🇨🇦
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) December 31, 2025
Voici les 2⃣5⃣ joueurs qui porteront la 🍁 à Milan-Cortina! 🇨🇦
ROSTER: https://t.co/5I8Uz2Psfa
FORMATION : https://t.co/zbOWuEgdPQ@TeamCanada | @Equipe_Canada pic.twitter.com/dTc1YKengx
Team Canada’s roster is fleshed out with goaltenders Jordan Binnington (St. Louis), Darcy Kuemper (Los Angeles), and Logan Thompson of the Washington Capitals. Binnington was crucial to Canada winning the 4 Nations Face-Off with some incredible overtime saves down the stretch before Connor McDavid scored the winner. As for the blueline, besides Makar and Sanheim, Kings’ defenseman Drew Doughty, Stars blueliner Thomas Harley, Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey, St. Louis’ Colton Parayko, Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore, and Colorado’s Devon Toews.
As for the forwards, perhaps there are a few surprises, including Washington’s Tom Wilson, the Islanders’ Bo Horvat, and Tampa’s Anthony Cirelli. But there’s also some young blood in the team, notably San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini and Montreal’s Nick Suzuki. Rounding out the lineup is Tampa’s Bradon Hagel, Florida’s Brad Marchand, Mitch Marner and Mark Stone from the Knights. Team Canada’s general manager Doug Armstrong said essentially nobody played their way off the roster. It was a case of some players playing their way into the mix, meaning as strong as Konecny’s season has been this year, a few more might have leapt over him in the depth chart.
Team Canada begins its schedule against Team Czechia on Feb. 12 and the following day against Switzerland and Feb. 15 against Team France.
There were no Flyers on the 2014 Team Canada roster but it did include a few former Flyers including Jeff Carter and Patrick Sharp. The coaching staff also included former Philadelphia head coach Ken Hitchcock. The 2010 roster featured Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger and forward Mike Richards.
