Projected Team Russia Roster for 2026 Olympics (Hypothetical)

Due to the geopolitical climate, both Russia and Belarus have been banned from International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) competitions through at least the 2025-26 season.

This means that, despite NHL players being allowed at the 2026 Olympics, Team Russia will not be participating. But that doesn’t mean we can’t hypothesize what a Russian roster would look like at the 2026 Olympics.

Earlier this summer, the teams participating in the Olympics announced their first six players to their preliminary rosters. So who would Russia’s have been?

Team Russia’s Hypothetical First 6

Alex Ovechkin would undoubtedly be one of the players named to Team Russia for the 2026 Olympics after breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record last season.

Nikita Kucherov and Artemi Panarin had the most points among Russian forwards last season, and you have to think that they’d join Ovi as some of the first players named.

Kirill Kaprizov was the Hart Trophy favorite until getting hurt, and he still put up an astonishing 56 points (25 goals, 31 assists) in 41 games last season.

Evgeni Malkin isn’t what he once was, but he’d be a top center on this hypothetical roster.

After that, Sergei Bobrovsky could be an option fresh off his second straight Stanley Cup victory. But the goaltending situation for Russia would’ve been competitive with a few top-tier netminders vying for action.

Up-and-coming stars Ivan Demidov, Kirill Marchenko, and Matvei Michkov would certainly be in the conversation as well. Mikhail Sergachev would likely be the top option on the blue line for the first six in.

Team Russia’s Projected First 6: Sergei Bobrovsky, Kirill Kaprizov, Nikita Kucherov, Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin, Artemi Panarin

Now, let’s take a crack at a hypothetical Team Russia roster for the 2026 Olympics. Note that we will only be using NHL players for this exercise.

Goaltenders

While squads like Team Canada have a hard time finding three goalies worth making an Olympic roster, Team Russia would have the opposite problem.

Sergei Bobrovsky, Igor Shesterkin, and Andrei Vasilevskiy have all won the Vezina Trophy in the last decade, and are all still very good NHL goaltenders.

And then you have Ilya Sorokin, who has consistently kept the New York Islanders in the hunt despite a not-so-great team in front of him. He also has the most shutouts of the bunch (22) since the 2020-21 season.

Bobrovsky and Vasilevskiy are likely the top two options due to their Stanley Cup-winning pedigree, but the third netminder is up in the air.

Team Russia’s Projected Goaltenders (3): Sergei Bobrovsky, Igor Shesterkin, Andrei Vasilevskiy

Defensemen

Team Russia would have plenty of goaltenders to choose from, and although they don’t have the most offensive defensemen, there are a few — plus a bunch of solid stay-at-home options.

Mikhail Sergachev, Ivan Provorov, and Vladislav Gavrikov all averaged over 23 minutes per game last season and would likely do the same for Team Russia at the Olympics.

Alexander Romanov, Artem Zub, Nikita Zadorov, and Dmitry Orlov all averaged over 20 minutes of ice time per game to give Team Russia seven minute-eating options.

Dmitry Kulikov and Ilya Lyubushkin would likely be in the mix as one of the last candidates, given their experience. But Russia could also add some youth in the form of Pavel Mintyukov or Alexander Nikishin, who made his Hurricanes debut last season.

There are some handedness issues, as most of these guys shoot left-handed, but it’s not out of the question to have a few guys play on their off side.

Team Russia’s Projected Defensemen (8): Vladislav Gavrikov, Alexander Nikishin, Dmitry Orlov, Ivan Provorov, Alexander Romanov, Mikhail Sergachev, Nikita Zadorov, Artem Zub.

Forwards

We’ve covered a handful of forwards in the above section. Kaprizov, Kucherov, Malkin, Ovechkin, and Panarin would easily make the team, and Demidov, Marchenko, and Michkov would likely join them.

Pavel Buchnevich, Pavel Dorofeyev, Ivan Barbashev, and Andrei Svechnikov would be toward the top of the list to fill out the forward group.

Center would be a position of weakness for Russia, and with Evgeny Kuznetsov looking to get back into the NHL, he certainly could’ve been in the mix for Team Russia. Vladislav Namestnikov is another Russian who can play center, which is rare in the NHL.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Valeri Nichushkin could play their way onto the roster with strong seasons, and Andrei Kuzmenko has shown the ability to put together strong stretches of play.

Team Russia’s Projected Forwards (14): Ivan Barbashev, Pavel Buchnevich, Ivan Demidov, Pavel Dorofeyev, Kirill Kaprizov, Nikita Kucherov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Evgeni Malkin, Kirill Marchenko, Matvei Michkov, Vladislav Namestnikov, Alex Ovechkin, Artemi Panarin, Andrei Svechnikov