Mikko Rantanen can probably envision himself streaking down the wing in a blue-and-white jersey, collecting a pass from one of the best centers or defensemen in the world and scoring one of the biggest goals of his hockey career.
Sure, that can happen in a Stanley Cup Final with Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and the Colorado Avalanche. But this version of his dream could include Aleksander Barkov and Miro Heiskanen, and the jersey would have a golden lion on the front.
Rantanen, like MacKinnon, Makar and so many of the NHL’s greatest players under the age of 30, has not had the chance to play for his country in the Winter Olympics, let alone any best-on-best tournament with his national team. He has played for Finland at the IIHF world championships, which is a much bigger deal in European countries. But to put on the Suomi sweater and participate in an experience like the Olympics would be something entirely different.
“It would mean a lot,” Rantanen said. “Hopefully the league and the international board can make it happen. That would be really fun to do that. I grew up watching those Olympics. It was really big for Finland always. I would be really excited to be part of that.”
The NHL has skipped the past two Winter Olympics. The NHL, NHLPA and IIHF could not come to an agreement for the 2018 games, so the league decided to not send its players for the first time since 1994. There was an agreement for 2022, but the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way.
There hasn’t been a best-on-best tournament at the men’s senior level since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. MacKinnon played in that, but not for Canada. The best young Canadians and Americans were thrown together on “Team North America” and it ended up being the most exciting thing about the tournament.
There are players on the Avs roster who were in Sochi in 2014 (Gabriel Landeskog, Tomas Tatar) or Vancouver in 2010 (Jack Johnson). They know what their teammates have been missing out on.
“It was awesome. It was one of the highlights of my career,” said Johnson, who won a silver medal with the United States and competed in one of the most famous games in hockey history, Canada’s overtime victory when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal. “I was very fortunate, not only to play in the Olympics but also when it was best-on-best. To play in it in Canada, it was pretty cool — like a perfect storm experience. There’s nothing like it.”
The next chance is in 2026, when the Winter Olympics will be in Italy. Representatives from every side — the NHL, NHLPA and IIHF — have repeatedly said they hope an agreement will be struck and the world’s best will return to the sport’s grandest stage. There has also been plenty of reporting on a potential World Cup that could be staged before 2026.
World Cups, like Canada Cups that came before them, are great, mostly because hockey fans get to see international powerhouses at their best against each other so rarely. But the Olympics is the crown jewel, particularly for players who didn’t grow up hearing stories about Paul Henderson in 1972.
Let’s assume it finally happens, and the NHL sends its players to the Milano-Cortina games in 2026. That is still pretty far off on the horizon, but we can dare to dream. If it does happen, there will very likely be a significant Avalanche presence.
Friends and teammates will become rivals for a couple weeks, and hockey fans everywhere would rejoice. Which current members of the Avs organization might be there?
Locks
Nathan MacKinnon, Canada
Cale Makar, Canada
Mikko Rantanen, Finland
MacKinnon has already expressed his desire to play on this team earlier this season, and with a certain pal of his from Pittsburgh. He and Makar, assuming good health, will be easy choices for a team that often has plenty of hard ones to make in the back-half of the roster.
There is only one country that has medaled in four of the five Olympics that featured NHL teams … and it’s Finland. The Finns are extremely proud of their ability to punch above their weight class at all international levels, and a line with Barkov between Rantanen and Sebastian Aho would scare the bejeezus out of every opponent.
“We have a lot of good, younger players,” Rantanen said. “I would be really excited to see what we could do against teams like Canada and the U.S.”
Likelys
Artturi Lehkonen, Finland
Tomas Tatar, Slovakia
Devon Toews, Canada
If it was the 2024 Winter Olympics, all three of these guys would be locks. Lehkonen is exactly the type of two-way, not flashy player that helps Finland succeed on these stages, but he also hasn’t played for his country in international play since the 2015-16 season.
Tatar and Toews would be easy choices today, but this tournament doesn’t start for 27 months. Toews would turn 32 near the end of it, and a medal would be some kind of birthday present. He’s close to a lock, but other young Canadian defensemen can emerge as stars over the next two seasons. Tatar will be 35, but Slovakia will almost certainly want his veteran experience at the NHL and international levels on the squad.
“I feel bad for the guys that don’t get to experience it, or haven’t yet,” Tatar said. “It’s the highest level of competition you can play on a national team. There’s a lot of interesting matchups, to play best against best. I hope players will be allowed there (in 2026). I’ve also heard some rumors about a World Cup again. It’s such a privilege for each guy to represent their country. It’s such a big event. It’s very exciting.”
Maybes
Gabriel Landeskog, Sweden
Valeri Nichushkin, Russia
Landeskog was there in Sochi as an alternate captain, but we have no idea what the rest of his career is going to look like at this point. The Avs would certainly love to have him back and as effective as he was before the injury, and the Swedes likely would as well.
Like the rest of his countrymen, it’s not just whether Nichushkin can make the team … it is will the IIHF allow his country to compete? Russia has been banned from international hockey events since the invasion of Ukraine.
Wild cards
Bo Byram, Canada
Ross Colton, United States
Nikolai Kovalenko, Russia
The Canadians are always going to be loaded, so making that team is tough. But could Byram, with some better luck in the health department, grow into a player capable of being in the discussion over the next two years? It might not be that crazy of an idea.
Colton would definitely be a long shot, but the most talented forwards don’t always make an international tournament roster. The Americans have taken a “glue guy” or two like Colton in the past, and winning another championship with the Avs to go with his title with Tampa Bay could get him in the mix.
Kovalenko has been one of the best players in the KHL this season, and might have a chance to make the Russian roster if the tournament was held now (and Russia was allowed to compete, of course). He should have 1.5 seasons with the Avs to prove he can play in the NHL, and his style of play could make him an intriguing depth option.
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