The Avs are well represented at the 2026 Olympics in Milano and Cortina. Announced earlier today by their federations, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Martin Necas and Gabriel Landeskog will all play for their respective countries. Nathan MacKinnon (Canada), Cale Makar (Canada) and Martin Necas (Czechia) will make their first Olympic appearances. Additionally, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog (Sweden) will don the Tre Kronor at the Olympics for the second time, after taking home silver in 2014.
The 2026 Winter Olympics mark the first time that NHL players will be at the Olympics since 2014, and their sixth appearance overall-- including 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010. Over those Olympic Games, Canada won gold three times (2002, 2010, 2014) while Sweden (2006) and Czechia (1998) each took home one gold medal apiece.
Both MacKinnon and Landeskog have the opportunity to join the exclusive Triple Gold Club, which includes 30 players who have won a Stanley Cup, a gold medal at the IIHF World Championship and a gold medal at the Olympics. They won the Stanley Cup in 2022 while MacKinnon won gold at the World Championship in 2015 and Landeskog took home the same honor in 2017. The Triple Gold Club includes former Avs Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Rob Blake.
At the most recent best-on-best hockey competition, the 4 Nations Face-Off in February 2025, MacKinnon and Makar helped Canada win the championship while MacKinnon took home the MVP.
