Hockey Canada is one step closer to selected its roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics. With six months to go until the Games, Hockey Canada announced Friday that it has invited 42 NHL players to its National Teams Orientation Camp later this month.
Among the invitees is Capitals forward Tom Wilson, who made the cut for Orientation Camp after Canada left him off its roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.
Wilson was one of the Capitals’ best players in 2024-25, ranking second on the team in goals (33) behind only Alex Ovechkin (44). With 65 points (33g, 32a) in 81 games, he set career highs in goals, assists, and points, all while maintaining the physical style of play he’s known for.
He spoke with NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger last month on what it would mean to him to make the Olympic squad.
“Obviously, it’s a dream your whole life to be mentioned in that type of realm of the guys with that type of pedigree,” he said then. “There’s a lot of really good superstar names, and just to be even in the mix is a huge privilege. I’m just going to try and play as well as I can up until the final team is announced and put my name in the hat.”
Of the 42 players invited to the camp, 25 will make the final team (22 skaters and three goaltenders). Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Connor McDavid, Brayden Point, and Sam Reinhart are already on the roster as the six initial players Hockey Canada announced in June.
Logan Thompson, meanwhile, was not invited to Orientation Camp, with Hockey Canada sticking to the trio of Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill (Thompson’s former goaltending partner in Vegas), and Sam Montembeault that they brought to the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Thompson, too, recorded a breakout season in 2024-25 after coming to the Capitals via trade last summer. Expected to play backup behind Charlie Lindgren, Thompson became Washington’s eventual starter and ranked fourth in Vezina Trophy voting. His 26.0 goals saved above expected ranked third in the league, per MoneyPuck, and he was among the top 10 in both save percentage (.910, 10th) and goals against average (2.49, ninth).
When he was left off of the 4 Nations roster last season, Thompson told reporters that Hockey Canada hadn’t contacted him during the selection process.
“They never reached out to me, and that didn’t upset me,” he later said. “It didn’t surprise me when I was left off the team.”
At the time, former NHL goaltender and current analyst Steve Valiquette argued that the cause of Thompson’s absence was his relationship with Bruce Cassidy and Peter DeBoer, who were both head coaches with the Vegas Golden Knights during Thompson’s time with the team. Both Cassidy and DeBoer will be assistant coaches for Canada once again in Milan.
“They didn’t have a great experience with him in Vegas,” Valiquette said then. “There were times that they wanted him to play, and he wasn’t available. Yeah, I know a little bit about what happened there, and I can’t get into it, but that was never going to happen.”
The 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics will run from February 4-22, 2026, with NHL players participating in the Games for the first time since 2014. The Capitals already have one confirmed representative in Milan in Martin Fehervary, who Slovakia named as one of its initial six players.
