Frederik Andersen, Nikolaj Ehlers among NHLers representing Denmark at final Olympic qualification tournament

Denmark’s men’s senior hockey team will have all six players who played in the NHL in 2023-24 back for the final Olympic qualification tournament, set to take place in Aalborg, Denmark from Aug. 29 – Sept. 1.

Denmark will play against Norway, Great Britain and Japan, with a spot in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy on the line. The current NHLers heading over to participate just prior to the start of training camp are goaltenders Frederik Andersen and Mads Sogaard, as well as forwards Nikolaj Ehlers, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Lars Eller and Jonas Rondbjerg.

Denmark has only played in one Olympic tournament, finishing seventh and losing out in the quarterfinal of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. They have been a mainstay in the top division of the men’s World Championship dating back to the 2003 tournament in Finland, having made the playoffs in 2010 and 2016. Denmark nearly made the playoffs again in 2022 with a team consisting of Ehlers and Joachim Blichfeld, who was part of the San Jose Sharks.

Other notable players on the roster include Oscar Fisker Molgaard, a Seattle Kraken pick in 2023, as well as long-time tournament mainstays Nicklas Jensen, Mikkel Aagaard, Mathias From, Frederik Storm, Christian Wejse and Alexander True, among others.

The Group F tournament in Aalborg is one of three final qualification tournaments set for late August. Group D will feature Austria, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Slovakia, while Group E will feature France, Latvia, Slovenia and Ukraine. Of them, Denmark, Slovakia and Latvia are considered the favorites to move on, with Italy also securing an automatic berth into the tournament.

Also of note, Belarus was previously banned from competing due to the IIHF’s suspension of both them and Russia following the invasion in Ukraine. Belarus would have had to win their Olympic qualification tournament to advance. Russia, meanwhile, has an automatic berth in the 2026 tournament, but that could change if the IIHF rules in favor of banning them for the duration for the 2025-26 season. No decision has been made on that just yet.