First Players Released for 2026 Winter Olympic Rosters

The 2025 Stanley Cup Final is still going, but thoughts are already drifting to the 2026 Winter Olympics rosters. NHL players are finally back after not participating since 2014. The first few names have been released for the rosters for the next Winter Games in Italy.

We have a tracker we’re updating all day as initial Olympic men’s hockey rosters start to trickle out:www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/2026-ol…

— Steven Ellis (@stevenpellis.ca) 2025-06-16T12:36:27.808Z

2026 Winter Olympic Rosters Release First Names

Many of the European countries released their rosters first with a number of big names. The NHL enjoyed the successful return of best-on-best international hockey with the Four Nations Face-Off. We saw great games between the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland.

However, we get to see other countries like Czechia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark and others join in on the fun. There will be jockeying for other roster spots, but these first six roster spots are locked in. Let’s take a look who’s been named so far.

Group A

France

Yohann Auvitu (Vitkovice FC, Czechia)
Jules Boscq (Iowa Heartlanders, ECHL)
Hugo Gallet (Tappara Tampere, Finland)
Alexandre Texier (St. Louis Blues)
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (Ajoie FC, Switzerland)
Jordann Perret (Hradec Kralove, Czechia)

Group B

Finland

Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators)
Esa Lindell (Dallas Stars)
Miro Heiskanen (Dallas Stars)
Mikko Rantanen (Dallas Stars)
Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers)
Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes)

Italy

Damian Clara (San Diego Gulls, AHL)
Thomas Larkin (Schwenningen Wild Wings, Germany)
Luca Zanatta (Val Pusteria Wolves, Austria)
Diego Kostner (Ambri-Piotta, Switzerland)
Tommy Purdeller (Val Pusteria Wolves, Austria)
Daniel Mantenuto (Bolzano FC, Austria)

Sweden

Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres)
Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings)
Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado Avalanche)
William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Lucas Raymond (Detroit Red Wings)

Slovakia

Juraj Slafkovsky (Montreal Canadiens)
Martin Pospisil (Calgary Flames)
Simon Nemec (New Jersey Devils)
Martin Fehervary (Washington Capitals)
Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Tomas Tatar (EV Zug, Switzeland)

Group C

Denmark

Nikolaj Ehlers (Winnipeg Jets)
Frederik Andersen (Carolina Hurricanes)
Lars Eller (Washington Capitals)
Oliver Bjorkstrand (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Jonas Rondbjerg (Vegas Golden Knights)
Jesper Jensen Aabo (Klagenfurt AC, Austria)

Germany

Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers)
Moritz Seider (Detroit Red Wings)
Philipp Grubauer (Seattle Kraken)
Lukas Reichel (Chicago Blackhawks)
Nico Sturm (Florida Panthers)
Tim Stutzle (Ottawa Senators)

Latvia

Rodrigo Abols (Philadelphia Flyers)
Uvis Balinskis (Florida Panthers)
Zemgus Girgensons (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Elvis Merzlikins (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Arturs Silovs (Vancouver Canucks)
Teddy Blueger (Vancouver Canucks)

USA

Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights)
Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks)
Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins)
Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators)
Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers)

What It Means

The tournament will be a highly-anticipated one with more than just the four nations playing. There are some good rosters, but the United States and Canada could meet each other again down the way. However, we have to see more of how these 2026 Winter Olympics rosters will take shape.

The Olympics also won’t see Russia or Belarus since both countries are banned from international play. Players like Alex Ovechkin won’t get one last ride on the Olympic ice. The tournament will run from Feb. 11, 2026 to Feb. 22.

Main photo by: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

The post First Players Released for 2026 Winter Olympic Rosters appeared first on Last Word On Hockey.