While the Calgary Flames remain a mess, some good news is that best-on-best hockey is returning at the Olympics in February for the first time in over 10 years. With the NHL’s best finally back competing for gold, we may get the chance to watch some current Flames on the biggest stage. So, how has each Olympic hopeful’s stock changed as we enter the midway point of the NHL season? Let’s take a look.
Slovakia
Sam Honzek – 0% (injured)
Sam Honzek may have been the biggest Olympic lock on the entire Flames roster before his devastating long-term injury. Honzek was one of just four Slovakian forwards to play NHL hockey this year. He was also the second-highest scorer behind only Juraj Slafkovsky.
Now that he had established himself as a full-time NHL player, his stock was way up for a country that has a very shallow player pool. The bottom line is Honzek was a lock to play in the Olympics at just 21 before his injury. Unfortunately, he’ll now have to wait until 2030.
Sweden
Rasmus Andersson – 90%
Despite a slow start to the 2025–26 season, Rasmus Andersson has been on fire as of late. The veteran defenceman has registered 18 points since November 1. That’s the highest such total among all Swedish defencemen in the NHL. In fact, he currently ranks third in the NHL among Swedish defencemen for points behind only Rasmus Dahlin and Erik Karlsson.
Andersson already had a decent shot at making Sweden’s roster, given his experience playing for his country—including last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament—as well as his handedness as a right-shot defender. Now, though, he looks like a surefire lock to be playing a big role for Sweden in Milan as he continues to have the best season of his career.
Mikael Backlund – 50%
Veteran Mikael Backlund was apparently one of the final cuts from Sweden’s 4 Nations roster. This shows he still holds value to the Swedish brass. He’s followed up that snub by quietly putting together one of his best seasons in years in 2025–26.
Backlund is on pace for 39 points while also being thrown around in Selke discussions due to his elite defensive numbers. Whether or not he’s playing in Milan will likely come down to Sweden’s roster-building strategy. Will they fill out the bottom of their roster with young up-and-comers like Emil Heineman and William Eklund, or proven veterans like Backlund? If it’s the latter, there’s a decent chance Backlund gets one of the final spots on the roster.
Canada
MacKenzie Weegar – 10%
MacKenzie Weegar was always in a tough position to make arguably the best blue line in the tournament. But after a tough start to the 2025–26 season, his chances remain way down. Weegar needed to come flying out of the gates in 2025–26 to crack the Canadian roster after being left out of the 4 Nations tournament. Instead, he’s played some of the worst hockey of his career over the past couple of months.
At this point, Weegar is likely out of time to make a push for Team Canada. If he could’ve turned things around in November and gone on a hot streak before rosters are due at the end of December, he might have had a chance. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and his chances of playing for Canada are likely close to zero barring a huge surprise.
United States
Dustin Wolf – 10%
Much like Weegar, Dustin Wolf was already in tough to crack his country’s roster. The Americans have arguably the best goaltending group in the world, and Wolf would’ve needed to come out playing Vezina-level hockey again this year to even be considered. He’s improved his stock a bit since the last time we checked in, but it may be too little, too late.
Since November 1, his save percentage of .910 is actually the fifth highest among all American goaltenders. The problem is that Conner Hellebuyck is a shoo-in despite his injury, and both Jeremy Swayman and Spencer Knight have been solid this season. That doesn’t even take into consideration Jake Oettinger, who is in the running as well. Wolf’s Olympic target should now be 2030, where he should be one of the favourites for a spot.
Matt Coronato – 0%
Matt Coronato was always a long shot to make the stacked American roster at these Olympics. However, after a strong 24-goal, 47-point 2024–25 season, there was a long-shot chance he could play his way in. Remember Andrew Mangiapane’s very real 2022 Olympic campaign?
Even with a bounce back of late with seven goals and 15 points since November 1, that won’t be anywhere close to enough to crack one of the most stacked rosters at the 2026 games. Like Wolf, Coronato should focus on earning a spot on the 2030 roster, where he should have a better chance.
Czechia
Adam Klapka – 15%
After a strong finish to the 2024–25 season and a good showing for Czechia at the 2025 World Championships, it looked like he may have a chance of making the team. Unfortunately, a nightmare first half of the 2025–26 season has dropped his stock quite a bit. Klapka currently has just five points in 32 games this season, the ninth-highest total among Czechia forwards.
He’ll always have a chance given the lack of Czechia forwards in the NHL, but it’s not looking great right now. We also need to consider that the Czech’s always bring some Euroleague players to these tournaments. He doesn’t have the benefit of being an NHL veteran like someone like David Kampf, and his production is far from impressive.
Representation at the international stage
The NHL’s return to the Olympics is massive for the sport of hockey. For the Flames fans, though, we may only see one current Flame on the world’s biggest stage.
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