2026 Winter Olympics Hockey Odds

Hockey is already the premier sport of the Winter Olympics — sorry, bobsled fans — but this year’s is even more anticipated. 

For the first time in 12 years, NHL players will be competing in the Winter Olympics. In the previous two winter games, the NHL opted out. First for ‘scheduling problems’ in 2018 and then because of the pandemic in 2022.

But now, the sport’s biggest names will be traveling to Milan-Cortina to try and nab a gold medal. 

Here’s a look at the odds as of January 22 for who will win the gold. 

Olympic Hockey Odds

2026 Ice Hockey Gold Medal Favorite

Team Canada (+125)

Canada is currently a +125 favorite to win the gold in Milan this February. 

Their roster is stacked with premier NHL talent, with the two main MVP candidates, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, likely centering their top two lines.

The team is hoping to build upon their success last February, where Team Canada defeated Team USA in the finals of the first-ever Four Nations. 

Like in the Four Nations, goaltending remains a weak point, especially when compared to the American roster. However, if Jordan Binnington can replicate his performance in last year’s gold medal game, they’ll be fine. 

The Canadians hold the record for the most gold medals at the Winter Olympics, with nine all-time. Their most recent win came in the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where they defeated Sweden 3-0 in the gold medal game. 

At the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, Canada failed to medal with a collection of junior hockey and college hockey talent. They finished in sixth place. 

Here’s a look at the full Team Canada roster: 

Forwards: Macklin Celebrini, Anthony Cirelli, Sidney Crosby, Brandon Hagel, Bo Horvat, 

Nathan MacKinnon, Brad Marchand, Mitch Marner, Connor McDavid, Brayden Point, Sam Reinhart, Mark Stone, Nick Suzuki, and Tom Wilson. 

Defenseman: Drew Doughty, Thomas Harley, Cale Makar, Josh Morrissey, Colton Paryako, Travis Sanheim, Shea Theodore, and Devon Toews.

Goaltenders: Jordan Binnington, Darcy Kuemper, and Logan Thompson. 

2026 Ice Hockey Gold Medal Contenders

Team USA (+210)

The great thing about this best-on-best Olympics tournament is that Team USA also has a stacked roster. Maybe not as jam-packed with MVP talent as Team Canada, but the Americans have a comparable roster. 

The headlining talent for Team USA are their two top centers, Auston Matthews and Jack Hughes, and the two-man wrecking crew of Matthew and Brady Tkachuk. If there were a prop bet on “Which hockey player will cause an international incident?”, one of the Tkachuks would be a favorite.

Additionally, Team USA has some talent on its blue line that was held out of the Four Nations tournament: Boston’s Charlie McAvoy and Minnesota’s Quinn Hughes. Both had injuries during the tournament and were unable to play in the Finals. 

In stark contrast to Canada’s goaltending weakness, Team USA boasts the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, Connor Hellebuyck, and two other top netminders, Jeremy Swayman and Jake Oettinger. 

The Americans have not won a gold medal at the Olympics since the Miracle On Ice game at Lake Placid in 1980. The only other time they won gold was in 1960. 

They finished fifth and seventh, respectively, in 2018 and 2022. 

Here’s a look at the full Team USA roster: 

Forwards: Matt Boldy, Kyle Connor, Jack Eichel, Jake Guentzel, Jack Hughes, Clayton Keller, Dylan Larkin, Auston Matthews, J.T. Miller, Brock Nelson, Tage Thompson, Brady Tkachuk, Matthew Tkachuk, and Vincent Trocheck. 

Defenseman: Brock Faber, Noah Hanifin, Quinn Hughes, Seth Jones, Charlie McAvoy, Jake Sanderson, Jacob Slavin, and Zach Werenski. 

Goaltenders: Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, and Jeremy Swayman