Connor McDavid set to play alongside young phenom at 2026 Olympics

After waiting a full week since watching their team, Edmonton Oilers fans can rejoice! Hockey games are officially underway in both the Men's and Women's tournaments in Milan, Italy for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. Canada's Men's team, as always, has enviable roster depth, and many of the players are familiar faces from last year's 4 Nations tournament. But there are some new faces as well, most notably, the young and highly talented Macklin Celebrini.

The second year pro has an impressive stat line with the San Jose Sharks with 81 points (28 goals, 53 assists) in 55 games, good for fourth in league standings. He has undoubtedly earned his spot on this team, and the team should be better for his presence, but there are other benefits to having today's "best player in the game" on a line with tomorrow's.

As a nation, we've been robbed of seeing Sidney Crosby, Nathan Mackinnon, and Connor McDavid in true, top-tier international play for a more than a decade of those storied careers. Not only was it disappointing as fans, but that gap has meant the stars of today haven't been immersed Canada's dominant culture of winning in best-on-best play since Crosby has been around. We all hoped that wouldn't be the case after the 2014 gold medal, but competing interests, unrelated to the wishes of the players and fans, kept 87, 29 and 97 off the Olympic ice.

We are entering a new era of Canadian dominance at the Olympics

The 4 Nations Face Off confirmed the abiding truth: When everybody comes to play, Canada is the greatest hockey nation in the world. But Oiler fans were happy for another reason. Connor McDavid not only had an opportunity to win on the big stage, but he finally shared a roster with Crosby. The effect was obvious. There can be no doubting McDavid's desire and drive to win, but it's worth noting that the 4 Nations ended differently than the Edmonton Oilers' two recent Stanley Cup drives. McDavid set up the winning goal, but he himself said it wasn't "even a question" about who the captain needed to be.

As Crosby's stellar career winds down (we should all hope we wind down so slowly), this opportunity is a god-send for Canadian hockey. And as Crosby is to McDavid and Mackinnon, so those two current superstars are to the Celebrinis and Bedards of the Canadian ice hockey world. Connor Bedard's unfortunately timed injury kept him off the roster, but he is a supreme talent and we should undoubtedly see him next time around.

One hopes Canada's players will leave this tournament with gold medals across their chests, but regardless of outcome, it's a net positive for the future. Celebrini is surely soaking in the expertise in terms of attitude, preparation, and execution he's witnessing in that room. He'll be a more complete player when he returns to the Sharks dressing room and is once again McDavid's divisional foe, but the other hope is this:

In four years time, in a post-Crosby world, the winning culture will continue on.

Go Canada!