Makin won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins last year, becoming the top scorer of the League and MVP of the play-offs. But he hasn’t been so impressive this season, failing to score for the Pens in eight consecutive matches.

"I see that many people are worried because of my decline in productivity. But the season is long and everybody has slowdowns. Do not worry I will be in my best form by the Olympics and I hope I will not let my country down," he told Sport-Express newspaper.

So despite the setback the center forward was quite sure of his presence at the Olympics.

"I cannot say I doubted my place in the roster for the Olympics. But I had some apprehensions till the very last moment when the list was published. Actually the List of 23 surprised me a bit, for example, the absence in there of Kovalev and Frolov. But there are limited places on the national team and you cannot take everybody," the NHL star said.

"The coaches are there to make the choice and we can only play… and win," he added.

The Olympic hockey tournament will take place on small ice, but the 23-year-old believes it won’t be a problem, not only for players from the NHL but also for KHL representatives, where the pitches are wider.

"The difference between small and bigger arenas is that you have to do everything faster. But I do not think there will be any problems with the size in Vancouver as all our players have experience of playing on small ice – either in the NHL or during the Quebec World Championship," Malkin explained.