Four Players Set to Represent the Seattle Kraken in 2026 Olympics
By Jayd Serdy, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - For the first time since 2014, NHL players will be participating in the Olympics, taking place in Milano Cortina this year. We have already seen quite a bit of Women’s Hockey, including a 5-0 shutout win for the USA against Canada. What we haven’t seen, though, is the Men’s side of things. Some NHL players opted to fly in for the Opening Ceremony, while others chose to fly in later, including the four players representing the Seattle Kraken. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer was named to Team Germany, Coachella Valley Firebirds forward Oscar Fisker Mølgaard was named to Team Denmark, and Kraken forwards Eeli Tolvanen and Kaapo Kakko were named to Team Finland to round out the four players sent to represent their countries from the Seattle Kraken in these 2026 Winter Games.
Seattle Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer during the team's pregame ceremony to honor its Olympians on January 29th, 2026, against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
For Grubauer, this will be his first time suiting up for Team Germany in the Olympic Games, having previously played for the team in the Olympic Games qualifiers in the 2016-17 season when he was still with the Washington Capitals. He has dressed for Germany six times in his professional career, the most recent time being over the summer for the Men’s Worlds, where he played in four games and held a .930 save percentage with a 2.02 goals against average. This season, Grubauer has had quite the resurgence with the Kraken, showing that he is still a phenomenal goaltender. So far this season, he has played in 22 games with a 2.44 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.
Grubauer will be a key piece of Team Germany’s hopeful success, at least as far as goaltending goes. As far as his other teammates, he’ll be joined by Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, Utah Mammoth forward JJ Peterka, Vancouver Cancuks forward Lukas Reichel, Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stützle, Minnesota Wild forward Nico Sturm, and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider. With some of these names and the way that Grubauer has been playing between the pipes, Germany could be primed to make a deep run for the Gold.
Seattle Kraken forward Eeli Tolvanen during the team's pregame ceremony to honor its Olympians on January 29th, 2026, against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Kraken forwards Eeli Tolvanen and Kaapo Kakko are set to represent Team Finland in these Olympics. This will also be Tolvanen’s second appearance in the Olympic Games, having dressed for Finland in the Men’s IIHF Worlds twice and World Juniors three times before, taking part in the 2017-18 event when he was in the Nashville Predators system. Currently, Tolvanen has racked up 11 goals and 20 assists across 55 games played for the Kraken this season, a contract year for the 26-year-old. Eeli leads Seattle in hits at the Olympic break and earned the NHL’s Second Star of the Week in late December.
Tolvanen has been a strong contributor for Finland in international play before, winning gold while tallying nine points in five games during the 2016 IIHF World U18 Championship, racking up 12 points across the World Juniors teams for Finland in 2017 and 2018, and helping his country win another gold in his third World Juniors appearance in 2019. Tolvanen’s strong play with his country in the 2025 IIHF World Championship, where he scored seven goals and added two assists, certainly ensured his spot on this Olympic team for Finland.
“It’s been a dream of mine, you know, playing the best-on-best hockey tournament.”
This will be Kakko’s first time suiting up for the Olympics, though, like Tolvanen, he has participated in two Men’s IIHF Worlds and one IIHF World Juniors for his home country. Kakko also represented his country in last year’s “NHL 4 Nations Face-Off,” recording one assist in two games played. The 24-year-old has tallied six goals and 15 assists across 40 games this season in Kraken colors. It hasn’t been the season that Kaapo was hoping for so far, having to battle injuries this season, dating back to the preseason, but his frame and scoring ability remain attractive to the Team Finland brass.
Like his teammate, Kaapo has achieved international success with Finland. He first won gold with Finland at the 2018 World U18 tournament, making him the youngest player in ice hockey history to win goldd at the IIHF U18. Kakko finished with two goals and three assists in the 2019 World Juniors, with one of those two goals being the game-winning goal in the gold medal game. Later that year, in the Spring, Kakko was at the IIHF Men’s World Championship as Finland won gold, contributing six goals and an assist.
“I think everyone wants to play in those games. I wanted to make the team for sure. That was one of my goals for this season. All the best playing against each other. I’m excited.”
Seattle Kraken forward Kaapo Kakko during the team's pregame ceremony to honor its Olympians on January 29th, 2026, against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Team Finland will be bolstered with goaltenders Kevin Lankinen from the Vancouver Canucks, Juuse Saros from the Nashville Predators, and Joonas Korpisalo from the Boston Bruins. Forwards Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen from the Florida Panthers, Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz from the Dallas Stars will join Tolvanen and Kakko on the offensive attack. On the backend, defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell from the Dallas Stars, Rasmus Ristolainen from the Philadelphia Flyers, and many more complete the blueline for this group. Team Finland has a strong chance at medaling during these Olympic Games, and for good reason. Their talent runs deep, and there’s plenty of it.
The final player from the Kraken organization participating in the Olympics this year is Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, who will be representing Team Denmark as an Olympian on the big stage for the first time in his career. The Seattle forward prospect has represented Denmark in the Men’s Worlds on three different occasions previously, while also playing in the Winter Youth Olympic Games back in 2020. Between this season with the AHL Coachella Valley Firebirds and Kraken, he has seven goals and 15 assists over 36 games in Coachella Valley, and one assist over three games in Seattle. The Kraken liked what Mølgaard showed them in the team’s training camp and preseason this year, earning him two separate call-ups, including for the team’s final game ahead of this current Olympic break.
Seattle Kraken prospect forward Oscar Fisker Mølgaard during the team's training camp and preseason ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Team Denmark has been projected to be one of the slightly weaker teams, bolstered by fellow NHLers in goaltender Mads Søgaard from the Ottawa Senators, forwards Jonas Røndjberg from the Vegas Golden Knights, Lars Eller from the Ottawa Senators, Nikolaj Ehlers from the Carolina Hurricanes, and former Kraken teammate Oliver Bjorkstrand of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
There will be a fifth representative from the Seattle organization headed to these Olympic Games, as Kraken assistant general manager Rick Olczyk will be out at the games alongside the four players from the franchise. Rick will be Italy’s assistant general manager and team advisor at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milano Cortina.
This year’s Men’s Hockey Olympic Games will take place from Wednesday, February 11th, until Sunday, February 22nd. The games can be streamed on Peacock or NBC Sports, as well as viewed at the 32 Watch Bar located inside the Kraken Community Iceplex, or at the home of Circling Seattle Sports, Rough and Tumble Pub.
Good luck to all of the Seattle Kraken in the Olympics this year!
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