With the Olympic roster freeze officially in place, the road to the 2026 Milano-Cortina Games is now wide open-and for NHL stars, it's more than just a trip across the Atlantic. It’s a shot at glory on the world’s biggest stage.
For players like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, this is the moment they’ve been waiting for. Both are built for the spotlight, and you can bet they’ll be gunning for gold with everything they’ve got.
But they won’t be alone. The Colorado Avalanche are sending a stacked group to Italy, with Brock Nelson and Gabriel Landeskog also expected to don their national colors.
If it were up to Avalanche fans, they’d hand out gold medals to every player wearing burgundy and blue. And with the kind of talent Colorado’s sending, that doesn’t feel like a pipe dream.
Still, while the Olympics are a dream for players, they’re a bit of a nightmare for NHL front offices. For a team like the Avalanche, deep in the hunt for another Stanley Cup, the risk is real. One wrong move on questionable ice, one awkward hit in an international clash, and a team’s championship aspirations can take a serious hit.
That’s the tightrope Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland is walking right now. Sure, it’s an honor to have so many of your stars representing their countries-but it’s also a gamble. And when your roster includes someone like MacKinnon, who plays with the ferocity of a heat-seeking missile, or Makar, whose edgework and agility make him a highlight reel waiting to happen, you hold your breath every time they hit the ice.
MacKinnon doesn’t just play hard-he plays like he’s trying to tear through the boards. That kind of intensity is what makes him elite, but it’s also what makes him vulnerable in a tournament where the stakes are sky-high and the ice conditions might not be up to NHL standards.
Makar, meanwhile, is poetry on skates. But even the smoothest skater can be undone by a bad rut in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Olympic officials have maintained that the ice in Milano-Cortina will meet NHL specifications, and early reports from insiders on the ground suggest things are shaping up well. That’s reassuring, but it doesn’t erase the anxiety. When you’ve got franchise players heading into a high-contact, high-stakes tournament midseason, you’re not just hoping they win-you’re hoping they come back in one piece.
It’s not just theoretical, either. NHL history has already given us cautionary tales.
Back in 2014, the New York Islanders saw their captain, John Tavares, go down with a season-ending injury at the Sochi Games. More recently, the Four Nations Face-Off last year cost the Boston Bruins Charlie McAvoy and left the Florida Panthers without Matthew Tkachuk for the rest of the regular season.
McAvoy never returned that year, and Tkachuk played through the playoffs at less than 100%.
That’s the kind of worst-case scenario every NHL team is trying to avoid. For the Avalanche, who have legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations, the stakes are even higher.
Losing a player like MacKinnon, Makar, Landeskog, or Nelson isn’t just a blow-it’s a potential season-derailer. You can try to plug the hole, but you’re not replacing that kind of talent.
Not really.
So while the Olympics offer a golden opportunity for players to chase national pride and personal legacy, they also bring a heavy dose of risk for NHL clubs. The hope is that the tournament goes off without a hitch-that the ice holds up, the players stay healthy, and everyone returns ready to make a playoff push.
But make no mistake: every NHL GM, coach, and fan will be watching those games with fingers crossed, hoping their stars shine-and stay safe.