The 2026 Winter Olympics are in full swing in beautiful Italy with athletes from across the globe converging for the Milano Cortina festivities. The ice events are taking place in Milan, where the stage is set for puck drop when the men’s hockey tournament begins on February 11 stateside. There’s an added twist to the event in this edition of the Games, though, with players from the National Hockey League allowed on national rosters for the first time since the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
We’re breaking down the top betting picks on DraftKings Sportsbook for a variety of markets surrounding the tournament. Here’s a look at the best group winner picks for the opening stage of men’s hockey competition.
Men’s hockey group picks for 2026 Winter Olympics
There’s a ton to talk about regarding the men’s hockey tournament, so for a breakdown of the full 12-team field and the odds of each nation to bring home the gold medal, check out this article. However, we’re honing in on the group stage by analyzing the landscape and odds seen in each one. Groups A and C have heavy favorites that probably won’t shock anyone, but there’s a particularly interesting option in Group B that takes the cake as our best bet here.
So, we’ll begin with Group A here. There’s a clear favorite at the top with Canada holding -475 odds to win it, which isn’t surprising given that the same team sits atop the leaderboard to win the gold medal at +115. It’s no shock that a roster headlined by Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon is the favorite to win both the group and the whole tournament, especially when considering the rest of the talent available in names like Macklin Celebrini, Sidney Crosby, Cale Makar, Nick Suzuki, Brandon Hagel and plenty of other NHLers. The addition of these professional players into the mix has completely shaken up the outlook of these Winter Games, bringing the world’s brightest stars to the ice in Milan.
As for the other teams in Group A, the Czech Republic sits second in odds at +600. Offensive talents like David Pastrnak and Martin Necas are the stars for Czechia, and a goalie tandem of Karel Vejmelka and Dan Vladar are quite solid. The blue line has just two NHLers on it though and isn’t nearly star-studded. Switzerland lands at +700 odds with NHL talent such as Kevin Fiala, Nico Hischier and Roman Josi, but a lack of top-end guys and quality depth throughout will pose issues. Rounding out Group A is France at +50000, which is understandably a very long shot with just one NHL player. In short, Canada should handle business without much threat in the group.
Group B is where the value is at this stage of the tournament via these winner picks. This group includes Sweden (-155), Finland (+140), Slovakia (+1600) and Italy (+50000). Slovakia’s roster isn’t exactly loaded with NHL talent, and the host nation is probably just happy to be here given that it doesn’t have a single current NHL player in its lines. The other two national teams make this a competitive race, though.
Sweden is favored to win Group B, which does make sense. After all, the Swedes deploy William Nylander, Filip Forsberg, Adrian Kempe, Jesper Bratt and more among its forward lines. The defense should also be formidable with Rasmus Dahlin, Victor Hedman, Rasmus Andersson and Erik Karlsson all among defensemen with Filip Gustavsson in the net.
However, there’s reason to believe that Sweden will face real competition from Finland. Look at the talent involved here — Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, Mikael Granlund, Roope Hintz and Artturi Lehkonen are all notable forwards with Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, Rasmus Ristolainen and a handful of other NHLers on the blue line. That’s a talent-laden roster that could potentially rival Sweden in terms of offensive production. The biggest question is whether a goalie group of Juuse Saros, Kevin Lankinen and Joonas Korpisalo can find a consistent starter to hold their own in net, especially with none particularly standing out in the NHL this season. If a starter can get hot, though, there’s enough here for Finland to compete and potentially win Group B, making that selection the best bet on the board out of possible group winners.
Finally, it would be unfair to leave Group C out of the fun. This set of teams sees the largest disparity in odds between the favorite and second-shortest roster, with the United States sitting as -1100 favorites while Germany Trails at +800. Latvia falls to +3500 to win the group while Denmark rounds out the group at +5000 odds.
The Americans are second on the leaderboard to win the gold medal at +175, so this is already a potentially dominant team. Jack Eichel, Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, Kyle Connor, Matt Boldy, Jake Guentzel, Jack Hughes, Brock Nelson and Tage Thompson make up a litany of excellent forwards. Behind them are defensemen like Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy and Zach Werenski, and a goalie tandem of Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Oettinger give the United States the best group of netminders in the tournament. This side should win Group C with ease, but there’s virtually no value in taking it in this market.
Visit DraftKings Sportsbook to take your pick on men’s ice hockey along with the rest of the 2026 Winter Olympics!
