The 2018 and 2022 Olympics were a missed opportunity for many Hurricanes players, but the 2026 Games offer a chance for redemption. The NHL's decision to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina is a welcome change, and it's fascinating to consider how things might have played out differently in the past. Personally, I think it's a great opportunity to reflect on the potential impact of NHL players on the Olympic stage, and I can't help but wonder about the possibilities. What if the Hurricanes had sent a different team to the Olympics? What if the NHL had allowed players to participate in 2018 and 2022? These are the questions that keep me up at night, and I'm here to explore them with you. In my opinion, the 2018 Winter Games would have been a bit of a letdown for the Hurricanes. Without NHL players, the Russian team, led by the legendary Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk, would have been a force to be reckoned with. While the Hurricanes had some promising young talent, like Brett Pesce, Noah Hanifin, Justin Faulk, and Jaccob Slavin, I don't think they would have been enough to compete with the Russian squad. One thing that immediately stands out is the fact that the Hurricanes' best players were young and still finding their footing in the NHL. While it's not impossible that one of Faulk or Hanifin could have made the US team, I think the odds were stacked against them. The Canadian forward group is notoriously tough to crack, and Jeff Skinner would have been the only Hurricane with a chance to make it. For Sweden, Elias Lindholm and Victor Rask could have snuck on, but I'd put their odds very low. The only two players I felt confidently would have made their teams were Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. Both players were among the highest-scoring Finnish forwards in the league to start the season, and Aho, at just 20, was already turning into a star. However, the 2022 Winter Olympics would have been a different story. With the NHL players participating, the Hurricanes had a much stronger team to send to the Olympics. Finland, led by captain Valtteri Filppula and former Hurricane Sami Vatanen, won gold over the defending world champion Russian Olympic Committee in a tight 2-1 contest. Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen would have remained locks to make Finland, with Aho guaranteed a spot in Finland's Top 6 and Teravainen adding depth to a good Finnish forward group. Frederik Andersen, who had been one of the best goalies in the league in 2021-22, is an easy pick to start for Denmark. Nino Niederreiter also makes it as one of Switzerland's first picks. Lastly, Martin Necas gets the call for Czechia, despite still not quite being his most dynamic self yet. What makes this particularly fascinating is the fact that the Hurricanes had a strong showing in 2022, with Aho, Teravainen, Antti Raanta, Frederik Andersen, Martin Necas, Nino Niederreiter, Andrei Svechnikov, and Jaccob Slavin all participating. In fact, I think Slavin gets the call for the US team after coming so close in 2018. If we could go back in time to allow NHL players to play in the Olympics, I would do it in a heartbeat. Hockey is at its most entertaining when the best players in the world are going at it with something meaningful on the line. It didn't happen during these two cycles, but I'm glad it's back now. Still, I can't help but wonder what would have happened if the NHL had allowed players to participate in 2018 and 2022. What if the Hurricanes had sent a different team to the Olympics? What if the NHL had allowed players to participate in 2018 and 2022? These are the questions that keep me up at night, and I'm here to explore them with you. From my perspective, the NHL's decision to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics is a step in the right direction, and I'm excited to see what the future holds for the sport.
