Olympic hockey with NHL players is finally here. After a dozen years, we have a best-on-best tournament at the Olympics in Milano Cortino.
The puck will drop on men’s hockey at the 2026 Olympics on Tuesday, with Finland taking on Slovakia.
Finland won gold back in Beijing in 2022, and Slovakia came away with the bronze. However, these two European countries are now behind the eight ball with NHL players in the mix.
Still, the Finnish team has some depth, and Slovakia has a few key players, including 2022 Olympic MVP Juraj Slafkovsky on its top line.
Let’s take a look at the odds and my prediction for Finland vs. Slovakia in Men’s Olympic Hockey Group B.
Finland vs. Slovakia Men’s Olympic Hockey Odds
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
Puck Line
- Finland: -2.5 (+110)
- Slovakia: +2.5 (-130)
Moneyline
- Finland: -410
- Slovakia: +320
Total
- 5.5 (Over +102/Under -122)
Finland vs. Slovakia How to Watch
- Date: Wednesday, Feb. 11
- Time: 10:40 a.m. ET
- Venue: Milano Santagiulia IHO
- How to Watch (TV): USA Network
- Finland record: 0-0
- Slovakia record: 0-0
Finland vs. Slovakia Prediction and Pick
Team Finland is without captain Aleksander Barkov, so it’ll be NHL veteran Mikael Granlund wearing the C for the Finns. Granlund has experience playing for Team Finland on the international stage, and there is still plenty of depth on this squad even without Barkov.
Finland is led by Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz joining Granlund on the top line, and they have NHL-caliber players throughout the lineup. This is a deep squad, with Panthers forwards Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen playing together on the third line, which was a recipe for success for Florida in last year’s playoffs.
The Finns also have a strong blue line with Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, Niko Mikkola, and Rasmus Ristolainen in the top four. Juuse Saros has had a down season between the pipes in Nashville, but he should be able to lock in for the Olympics.
On the Slovakia side, it really is just Slafkovsky and a few other recognizable names, like longtime NHL forward Tomas Tatar. Young Blues center Dalibor Dvorsky is on the second line, but after that there’s not much depth there.
Defensively, Simon Nemec and Eric Cernak lead a solid group on the blue line, but they don’t have the top-end talent or depth to match the Finns. On top of that, goaltender Adam Gajan has a .905 save percentage at the college level this season after putting up an .895 SV% last year.
I’m not going to lay a -410 moneyline this early in the tournament, but Finland has to be the play here. It wouldn’t be surprising if they hold Slovakia to just a goal or two at most, and then the question becomes can Finland put up a handful.
I might try to parlay Finland with an alternate under 6.5 to get the odds down, but ultimately, my recommendation is to take the plus odds on Finland to cover -2.5.
Finland beat Slovakia 6-2 to open the 2022 Olympics, and then took them down 2-0 in the semifinals. With the added NHL firepower for Finland, they should get a win by margin to open the tournament.
Pick: Finland -2.5 (+110)
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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