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With the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy less than a year away, the 12 national men's hockey teams participating are in the process of revealing the initial six players who will be on their respective rosters. Those teams will announce the remainder of their rosters at a later date closer to the Winter Games, which will get underway next February. 

Most teams have now unveiled which players will be making the trip to Milan, and as to be expected, the American and Canadian rosters are already loaded with stars. Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby will be donning the red and white for Canada while Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk will be sporting the red, white and blue for Team USA.

The 2026 Winter Olympics will mark the first time that NHL players will be competing in 12 years. NHL players last suited up for their countries in Russia back in 2014. The 2026 field won't include Russia since the country's athletes are still banned following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Finland captured the gold medal in the 2022 Winter Olympics with a win over Russia, while Slovakia won the bronze medal with a victory against Sweden. Both Canada and the United States ended up losing in the quarterfinals.

But Canada will be looking to defending its crown when it comes to best-on-best tournaments. The Canadians came away with a 3-2 overtime win over the United States in the final of the 4 Nations Face-Off with Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid netting the game-winning goal last February.

While the United States has yet to announce their entire preliminary roster, here is an early look at which players are the headliners for the dozen nations participating at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Canada

Czechia

Denmark

France

  • Hasn't been announced yet

Finland

Germany

Italy

  • Diego Kostner (F, HC Ambrì-Piotta)
  • Daniel Mantenuto (F, HC Bolzano)
  • Tommy Purdeller (F, HC Pustertal)
  • Luca Zanatta (D, HC Pustertal)
  • Thomas Larkin (D, Schwenninger Wild Wings)
  • Damian Clara (D, San Diego Gulls)

Latvia

Slovakia

Sweden

Switzerland

United States