play0:49Sebastian Aho scores shorty vs. AvalancheSebastian Aho scores short-handed goal vs. Avalanche
play0:52Sam Reinhart’s power-play goal puts the Panthers on the boardSam Reinhart’s power-play goal puts the Panthers on the board
play1:57Who are notable omissions from the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey roster?Greg Wyshynski identifies Adam Fox, Jason Robertson and Lane Hutson as the biggest snubs from the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey roster.
Macklin Celebrini scores filthy tying goal, then sets up Sharks’ OT winner (1:55)Macklin Celebrini scores the tying goal in the third period, then makes the winning assist to William Eklund. (1:55)
Sam Reinhart’s power-play goal puts the Panthers on the boardSam Reinhart’s power-play goal puts the Panthers on the board
Who are notable omissions from the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey roster?Greg Wyshynski identifies Adam Fox, Jason Robertson and Lane Hutson as the biggest snubs from the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey roster.
Greg Wyshynski identifies Adam Fox, Jason Robertson and Lane Hutson as the biggest snubs from the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey roster.
play0:10Lukas Dostal makes beautiful saveLukas Dostal makes beautiful save
The 2025-26 NHL season is a special one, as players will be competing in the Olympic Games for the first time since 2014.
Eleven of 12 teams in the tournament have revealed their rosters — what’s the holdup, Italy? — featuring a mix of current, former and future NHLers.
As part of this week’s ESPN NHL Power Rankings — led again by the Colorado Avalanche — we’ve identified the players from each team who will be representing their respective countries in Milan Cortina in February.
How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors sends in a 1-32 poll based on the games through Wednesday.
Note: Previous ranking for each team refers to the previous edition, published Jan. 2. Points percentages are through Thursday’s games.
A whopping eight players headed to Italy from Denver. It’s not surprising, because this is a team with only four regulation losses midway through the season. It’s a little surprising that the Avs don’t top the list of most Olympians selected from one NHL team.
2026 Olympians: Oliver Bjorkstrand, F (DEN), Erik Cernak, D (SVK), Anthony Cirelli, F (CAN), Zemgus Girgensons, F (LAT), Jake Guentzel, F (USA), Brandon Hagel, F (CAN), Victor Hedman, D (SWE), Pontus Holmberg, F (SWE), J.J. Moser, D (SUI), Brayden Point, F (CAN), Wojciech Stachowiak, F (GER)
The Wild have a ton of “I wouldn’t be surprised if that guy is the sleeper pick of the tournament” kind of players. Absent of course is Kirill Kaprizov — who signed a record-breaking contract this preseason — due to Russia not being a part of the Olympics.
Helsinki, Texas! The Finnish Stars (in both meanings) are headed to Milan Cortina. This is the core group of a Finnish team that could surprise many.
2026 Olympians: Sebastian Aho, F (FIN), Frederik Andersen, G (DEN), Nikolaj Ehlers, F (DEN), Jaccob Slavin, D (USA)
A pair of Danes in Ehlers and Andersen go from this team, while Aho will be the offensive engine for Suomi.
Sebastian Aho scores shorty vs. AvalancheSebastian Aho scores short-handed goal vs. Avalanche
Sebastian Aho scores short-handed goal vs. Avalanche
Larkin is one of the leaders in the Team USA locker room; other Americans have noted how vocal he is. Meanwhile, blueliner Seider will be a key component of the German roster.
2026 Olympians: Rodrigo Abols, F (LAT), Rasmus Ristolainen, D (FIN), Travis Sanheim, D (CAN), Dan Vladar, G (CZE)
Veteran Ristolainen gets his first opportunity to represent his country at the Olympics. In 2014 — the most recent time NHL players played at the Olympics — Ristolainen scored an overtime gold medal-winning goal for Finland at the IIHF World Junior Championship.
2026 Olympians: Oliver Kapanen, F (FIN), Juraj Slafkovsky, F (SVK), Nick Suzuki, F (CAN), Alexandre Texier, F (FRA)
Suzuki makes the cut, but Cole Caufield does not. And rising star Slafkovsky will get a chance to play big minutes at a mountaintop-level tournament.
“One is the loneliest number…” but it would be at least two if this tournament were even a year later, because rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer is one of the future leaders of Team Canada.
One of the biggest snubs from Team Canada was Panthers forward Sam Bennett, who helped Canada win a championship at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off. In comes Wilson, who will fill that agitator role nicely. Meanwhile, Thompson is one of the changes for Canada in the crease.
2026 Olympians: Sidney Crosby, F (CAN), Erik Karlsson, D (SWE), Rickard Rakell, F (SWE), Arturs Silovs, G (LAT)
Is this the final time that Crosby captains Team Canada? The C is his as long as he wants it, before probably passing it on to Connor McDavid. A final gold medal for Sid the Kid — who scored the golden goal in 2010 — would cap off one of the greatest careers in hockey history.
“Center sTage” Thompson finally gets his opportunity to shine on one of the biggest stages in hockey. Snubbed from the 4 Nations Face-Off roster, he is one of the few American players who didn’t make that tournament but did make this one.
An elite list of players. This reads like a team that you would draft in a fantasy league and say, “I did pretty good.” Pretty much all of them will be major contributors for their respective teams.
2026 Olympians: Leon Draisaitl, F (GER), Connor McDavid, F (CAN), Josh Samanski, F (GER), David Tomasek, F (CZE)
How many goals will Draisaitl score? Will he lead the tournament? Will McDavid score the OT goal to win gold for Canada … again?
Let’s add more fuel to the “Battle of Florida” fire, as the Lightning (11) narrowly edge out the Panthers (9) for 2026 Olympians — while Florida’s captain Aleksander Barkov surely would’ve made Finland’s roster if he were healthy.
Sam Reinhart’s power-play goal puts the Panthers on the board
Sam Reinhart’s power-play goal puts the Panthers on the board
With Mitch Marner traded, and Morgan Rielly off the list, there are no Team Canada representatives from Canada’s biggest city. But Matthews and Nylander will be counted on to lead their respective teams’ offensive production.
2026 Olympians: Oscar Fisker Molgaard, F (DEN), Philipp Grubauer, G (GER), Kaapo Kakko, F (FIN), Eeli Tolvanen, F (FIN)
Kakko could turn some heads at this tournament. His tenure with the Rangers was scrutinized, and the No. 2 pick from 2019 hasn’t set the world on fire in Seattle yet. The Olympics certainly has a way of making stars.
Stutzle is a top candidate to have a monster tourney. And, while we probably won’t see three fights in nine seconds as we did at 4 Nations, Tkachuk will bring that type of energy to Italy. The Tkachuk brothers are the emotional heartbeat of Team USA.
2026 Olympians: Joel Armia, F (FIN), Drew Doughty, D (CAN), Kevin Fiala, F (SUI), Adrian Kempe, F (SWE), Darcy Kuemper, G (CAN)
Welcome to Team Canada, Darcy Kuemper! Veteran blueliner Doughty had a remarkable (and expletive-laden) reaction to getting the call for Canada. He’s also one of a select few players in 2026 who has won a gold medal at the Olympics.
Pastrnak famously celebrated Czechia’s 2024 victory in the IIHF world championship, so you can bet he will be fired up for the Olympics. Ditto McAvoy, but for a different reason; his emotional speech before the final game at the 4 Nations Face-Off was legendary.
Trocheck and Miller, both described as glue guys, get in for the U.S., and Zibanejad should be a top-six contributor for Sweden.
2026 Olympians: Macklin Celebrini, F (CAN), Philipp Kurashev, F (SUI), Pavol Regenda, F (SVK), Alexander Wennberg, F (SWE)
Celebrini — now a legitimate Hart Trophy contender who has been top five in scoring for the majority of the season — earned his way onto Team Canada. He has all the makings of having a transformative tournament.
The Devils have one of the most complete representations going, from goal scorers to playmakers, from offense-minded to shutdown defensemen, along with a goaltender.
2026 Olympians: Clayton Keller, F (USA), Olli Maatta, D (FIN), JJ Peterka, F (GER), Karel Vejmelka, G (CZE)
This tournament is a great opportunity for Keller. Keller is third in scoring for Utah, while Dylan Guenther and Nick Schmaltz, Nos. 1 and 2, did not make their respective teams. Keller captained Team USA to a gold medal at the 2025 IIHF world championships.
2026 Olympians: Leo Carlsson, F (SWE), Lukas Dostal, D (CZE), Mikael Granlund, F (FIN), Radko Gudas, D (CZE)
The Ducks have two players joining Czechia, tied for the most from any NHL team. The 21-year-old Carlsson, who will play for Sweden, also represented the country at the world championships last summer, with Tre Kronor winning bronze.
Lukas Dostal makes beautiful saveLukas Dostal makes beautiful save
Werenski was a force during the 4 Nations Face-Off. If he replicates that performance, he will be a big reason Team USA is in position to win gold.
2026 Olympians: Filip Forsberg, F (SWE), Erik Haula, F (FIN), Roman Josi, D (SUI), Juuse Saros, G (FIN)
These Games could be the Olympic swan song for 35-year-old Josi at an international tournament, but I also wouldn’t be entirely surprised if he suits up for Switzerland at age 39 in 2030.
Just one representative from the Hawks, with the biggest critiques coming out of Chicago obviously being that Connor Bedard was left off the roster for Team Canada.
2026 Olympians: Jordan Binnington, G (CAN), Philip Broberg, D (SWE), Dalibor Dvorsky, F (SVK), Colton Parayko, D (CAN), Pius Suter, F (SUI)
Bennington returns from the 4 Nations Face-Off roster, probably as team Canada’s starting goalie. He made multiple key saves in the gold medal game against the U.S. before Connor McDavid scored. It was a clutch, championship-worthy performance, and apparently enough to overcome an uneven 2025-26 NHL season thus far.
This is perhaps the most surprisingly long list because the Canucks are currently second worst in the NHL standings.
2026 Olympians: Kyle Connor, F (USA), Connor Hellebuyck, G (USA), Josh Morrissey, D (CAN), Nino Niederreiter, F (SUI)