Predicting Team Finland Roster for 2026 Milan Olympics

This article is part of an ongoing series of Predicting Olympic Rosters as Chris, Roberto, and Chip take note of how each country could line up for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics. To view more projected rosters in this series go here.

For the first time since Sochi in 2014, the NHL will be participating in the Winter Olympics. Well, at least they’re supposed to. If you haven’t been keeping up with Olympic news, there’s some concern the arena in Milan that’s still under construction won’t be ready in time, and it’s already been confirmed that the size of the rink wI’ll be smaller than the standards agreed upon by the NHL, NHLPA, IIHF, and Olympic committees. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has even said there isn’t a zero percent chance that the players won't be going.

But assuming the players go as planned, and as we inch closer to kicking off the 2026 Milan Olympic Games, Chris Feldman, Roberto Solis-Byxbee, and Chip are here with projections on how some of the rosters will shape out for some of the top countries in the tournament.

Team Finland may have been the only country not to win a game at the 4 Nations Face-Off last season, but in an Olympic round-robin setting they have a greater chance at making some noise. While they will be without their captain and top player in Aleksander Barkov, there are still some top Finnish players around the league that will make up their roster, which gives them a chance at claiming a medal at the 2026 Winter Olumpics.

Chris' Projected Roster

Teravainen - Aho - Rantanen 
Lehkonen - Hintz - Granlund
Luostarainen - Lundell - Kakko 
Tolvanen - Haula - Laine
Kotkaniemi - O. Kapanen - K. Kapanen 

Lindell - Heiskanen 
Mikkola - Ristolainen 
Maatta - Jokiharku 
Vaakanainen - Matinpalo 

Saros - Luukkonen - Lankinen 

Finland will still be competitive, but any chance they may of had at advancing to the final likely went out the window when Barkov was ruled out for the season with an ACL injury. Still, Sebastian Aho and Roope Hintz make for a strong 1-2 punch down the middle. Around them there's plenty of star power and skill in Mikko Rantanen, Teuvo Teravainen, Mikhail Granlund, and Arrturi Lehkonen.

Depth is where you run into question marks with this group. Eetu Luostarainen, Anton Lundell, and Kaapo Kakko have the makings to be an incredibly fun third line, but that counts on Kakko being healthy and at the top of his game. Patrik Laine could play a bigger role here, too, but he faces some similar concerns with consistency as Kakko does. Same thing could be said for Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

Overall, not a ton of differences from how this team lined up for 4 Nations. I left Joel Armia off and went with Eeli Tolvanen on that fourth line as he has a bit more goal scoring capabilities to his game and filled out the depth with cousins Kasperi and Olivier Kapanen. Lastly, Erik Haula could provide some depth value for the Finns as a penalty killer and face-off specialist.

On defense, it’s going to look quite similar to 4 Nations roster with Jussi Valimaki and Jani Hakkanpa being the names left off. The Finns don't have many NHL quality options on the back end so Urho Vaakanainen and Nikolas Matinpalo will once again have to step up against the best players in the world.

Chip's Projected Roster

Teravainen - Aho - Rantanen 
Lehkonen - Hintz - Granlund
Luostarainen - Lundell - K. Kapanen
Kotkaniemi - O. Kapanen - Kakko 
Tolvanen - Haula - Laine

Lindell - Heiskanen 
Mikkola - Ristolainen 
Maatta - Jokiharku 
Vaakanainen - Matinpalo 

Saros - Luukkonen - Lankinen

Yup, I agree with Chris on basically all of this. The Finns were always in for an uphill climb and the elimination of Sasha Barkov from roster consideration made it an uphill climb, in quicksand, carrying a boulder. Man, seeing this roster makes you realize that,for as disappointing as his NHL career has been, Patrik Laine isn’t even the most disappointing number two pick to come out of Finland. I would have him above Kaapo Kakko here if not for the fact that he’s on IR. 

The defense is fine and the goalies are good, but yeah, this team is crap as far as Olympic rosters go.

Roberto's Projected Roster

Teravainen - Hintz- Rantanen 
Lehkonen - Aho- Granlund
Luostarainen - Lundell - Kakko
Kotkaniemi - O. Kapanen - K. Kapanen
Tolvanen - Haula - Laine

Lindell - Heiskanen 
Mikkola - Ristolainen 
Maatta - Jokiharku 
Vaakanainen - Matinpalo 

Saros - Luukkonen - Korpisalo

Not many changes from Chris or Chip. I moved Roope Hintz up to the top line to play with his Dallas Stars' teammate Mikko Rantanen. I pondered inserting Joel Kiviranta into the lineup, but the players he would have replaced either have more offense to their game or play a grinding style more effectively, so he didn't make the cut. I also took out Kevin Lankinen and added Joonas Korpisalo, though that's not a game-changing difference.

When you typically think of Finland you envision a hockey powerhouse, but this roster leaves much to be desired. Not to mention that the era of Finnish dominance in the net has hit a dry spell. Sure, the fact that Aleksander Barkov is injured and missing is a big blow. But even so, when competing against the other top teams, it was going to be a tough climb for the Finns.