TORONTO — The Canadian women’s national hockey team will lean on an experience-heavy roster at the 2026 Olympics, naming 20 returning players from the 2025 world championships to its 23-player roster on Friday afternoon.

That includes 13 forwards who represented the national team last April, including three of the top five goal scorers in the PWHL this season — captain Marie-Philip Poulin, Brianne Jenner and Daryl Watts. Jennifer Gardiner, who finished second in tournament scoring, will make her Olympic debut. So will Watts, who is second all-time in PWHL scoring behind only Poulin.

Sarah Nurse, who set the Olympic record for scoring in a single tournament (18) in 2022, will also return to the roster and should be ready for Milan after missing most of the 2025-26 season due to injury.

Among the six returning defenders are all three 2025 PWHL defender of the year finalists, Renata Fast, Sophie Jaques and Claire Thompson. No. 1 goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens — who has a .947 save percentage in the PWHL this season — will return to Canada’s crease. And while she wasn’t at last year’s worlds due to injury, longtime back-up goalie Emerance Maschmeyer will head to her second Olympics. New York Sirens goalie Kayle Osborne will fill out the depth chart.

Overall, Canada’s roster includes 16 players with Olympic experience and nine with more than two tournaments under their belts, led by Poulin, who will play in her fifth Olympic Games in Milan; Jenner, Natalie Spooner and defender Jocelyne Larocque will play in their fourth.

Seven players — Watts, Gardiner, Kristin O’Neill, Julia Gosling, Kati Tabin, Jaques and Osborne — will make their Olympic debuts when the women’s tournament begins on Feb. 5.

Team Canada’s preliminary round begins with a game against Finland and ends with a rivalry match against the U.S. on Feb. 10. The gold medal game is slated for Feb. 19.

The U.S. women’s roster was named on Jan. 31 and can be viewed here.

Snubs

Danielle Serdachny, Chloe Primerano, Ève Gascon and Micah Zandee-Hart were all left off the Olympic roster after winning silver at world championships in Czechia.

Serdachny, who scored the golden goal at 2024 worlds in Utica, is arguably the Canadians’ biggest snub. She’s played a depth role well for Canada over three straight world championships but has struggled to adjust to the PWHL, scoring just three goals and 10 points in 39 games over her first two seasons. Gosling, with four goals and eight points in nine games this season alone, might have simply jumped Serdachny on the depth chart.

It was surprising, in some ways, to not see defender Primerano on the roster, given she has established herself as one of the most promising prospects in women’s hockey. After two years dominating girls high school hockey, Primerano graduated early and made her college debut for the University of Minnesota — and did it a year ahead of schedule at just 17 years old. Had she made this roster, she’d have been the first teenager to make a Canadian Olympic team since Poulin in 2010. While her ceiling is absurdly high, Primerano has yet to look dominant on the blue line at the senior international level. She will certainly be part of Canada’s Olympic team in 2030.

Gascon, 22, who was named WCHA goalie of the year, looked to be an easy addition to the Olympic team behind Desbiens and Maschmeyer. However, Osborne, 23, has proven herself against the best in the world in the PWHL, starting every single one of New York’s games this season. No goalie has made more saves than Osborne (280) or played more minutes (651:32).

Caitlin Kraemer and Hannah Miller also failed to make the cut from Canada’s 30-player national team roster announced back in August. Canada general manager Gina Kingsbury confirmed on Friday that Miller is now eligible to play for Canada, after representing China at the 2022 Olympics. Miller’s exclusion from the Olympic roster was not related to her IIHF eligibility appeal.

Surprises

The biggest surprise on the roster is, without a doubt, the selection of Tabin.

Tabin only made her senior national team debut at the November Rivalry Series in Cleveland and Buffalo, after establishing herself as a top defender in the PWHL.

Over two years in Montreal, Tabin has been a consistent all-situations defender who makes a good first pass, is defensively sound and can play physical when needed. Said Montreal general manager Danièle Sauvageau: “She does everything right.”

Typically, it would be a surprise to see a 37-year-old on an Olympic roster. But Larcoque is still one of the top eight defenders in Canada, according to Dom Luszczyszyn’s PWHL data model, despite some age-related decline over the past year.

The only defender with a better Net Rating than Larocque who didn’t make the Olympic roster is Minnesota rookie Kendall Cooper, who has played zero games with the senior national team. Larocque has played over 200. Cooper should definitely get a look on the national team, but less than 30 days from the Olympics is no time to bring in a brand-new defender.

Expectations

The bar couldn’t be higher after Canada re-wrote the record books en route to a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2022. This year, however, it will arrive in Italy as the No. 2-ranked team according to the IIHF standings. Canada is riding a six-game losing streak against Team USA after getting swept at the 2025 Rivalry Series and world championships.

While there’s work to be done after getting outscored 24-7 at Rivalry, Canada’s goal in Milan remains the same: to win Olympic gold.

Team USA poses an immense threat, with an elite combination of high-end veterans and dynamic young talent. However, Canada has the best player on the planet and the ultimate X-factor in Poulin, who has scored in all four Olympic gold medal games she’s played. The Americans, who have only beat Poulin once in an Olympic gold medal game, know that well.

Canada will be scrutinized for taking so many veterans compared to the Americans, but it’s important to remember Canada also has several elite players still in their prime — such as 2025 PWHL rookie of the year Sarah Fillier, defender of the year Renata Fast and goalie of the year Ann-Renée Desbiens.

Fillier is only 25 years old and was among the top scorers at the 2022 Olympics. Fast is arguably the best all-around defender in the world. Desbiens comes with a 4-0 record at the Olympics and has only lost in two championship games since taking over Canada’s crease in 2021.

Not to mention, Canada’s veterans have plenty of experience winning when it matters most.

Data via PWHL analytics