Biggest NHL Stars who might be at the Olympics 2022

Ice hockey fans are delighted: the NHL stars around will once again be on the Olympic ice at the Winter Games in Beijing in 2022. This was agreed between the NHL and the Ice Hockey Federation IIHF after no agreement was reached at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. The North American league will take a break for this from February 3 to 22, 2022.

With the agreement between the NHL and the World Hockey Federation, hockey fans can look forward to the best players in the world competing with their national teams for Olympic medals in Beijing.

Here are the best NHL players that could appear at the 2022 Olympics in Peking, which promise a lot of excitement once they step on the ice!

Although, it might seem that qualifying for the Olympics equates to hitting casino jackpots on one of the gambling websites, it has nothing to do with luck. For some of the players it might be a ‘once in a lifetime experience’ and requires years of preparation, as well as determination and meeting strict requirements to be able to qualify. 

Best Nations with NHL Stars at the Olympics in Peking

Canada

• Connor McDavid: The captain of the Edmonton Oilers is currently considered the best player in the world. McDavid proved this especially in the past NHL season. The 24-year-old impressed with 33 goals and 72 assists in just 56 games and has already won the Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's best player twice in his young career.

• Sidney Crosby: The 34-year-old was considered the best hockey player in the world in the time before Connor McDavid. In addition to three Stanley Cup triumphs and numerous other awards, the eight-time NHL All-Star is reaching for his third gold medal in ice hockey at the Beijing Games.

• Alex Pietrangelo: At 31, he brings plenty of experience and routine to the team, and the 2019 Stanley Cup winner is still considered one of the best defensive players in the world.

Finland

• Sebastian Aho: The Carolina Hurricanes center averaged over a point per game for his team last season. The Olympic debutant already won the silver medal with Finland at the 2016 World Championships.

• Aleksander Barkov: The Florida Panthers captain won Olympic bronze with Finland at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and was awarded the Frank J. Selke Trophy last NHL season as the best forward with the strongest defensive effort.

• Mikko Rantanen: The Colorado Avalanche winger brings the experience of more than 330 NHL games, in which his rate is nearly a point per game, and also won World Cup silver with the Finns in 2016.

USA

• Auston Matthews: The 24-year-old from the Toronto Maple Leafs is one of the NHL's most prolific scorers. In the 2020/21 season, he won the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league's top scorer with an impressive 41 goals.

• Patrick Kane: Despite his age of 32, the Chicago Blackhawks forward is one of the league's best offensive players. He has won the Stanley Cup three times and has been named an NHL all-star player nine times.

• Seth Jones: After Jones was unable to continue his good performances last season with just 5 goals and 23 assists, the defensive player moved from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Chicago Blackhawks in the offseason. At Olympia, he hopes to return to his better days.

Russia

• Alex Ovechkin: The Muscovite is one of the best goal scorers of all time in the NHL and has been an absolute exceptional forward for many years. The 36-year-old from the Washington Capitals is now the fourth-best scorer in NHL history. 

• Andrei Vasilevskiy: The Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender is considered the best goalie in the world. In addition to being named the NHL's best goaltender in 2019, Vasilevskiy was instrumental in the Lightning winning the Stanley Cup the past two years.

• Nikita Kucherov: The dynamic offensive player has won the Stanley Cup twice and bronze at World Hockey Championships. Together with Alex Ovechkin, Kucherov will be irreplaceable for the Russians' offense. The Beijing Games will be his first.

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