2026 Olympic roster ‘First Six’ reveals: reactions for all 12 teams
The 2024-25 NHL calendar hasn’t even ended yet, but the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics begin in less than eight months, believe it or not. The Games open Feb. 5, and the men’s hockey preliminary round commences Feb. 11, with NHLers participating for the first time since the 2014 Sochi Games.
It’s no wonder the international teams got cracking Monday, with all 12 naming their first six players before the final rosters are unveiled early in 2026.
What are Daily Faceoff’s early reactions to the announcements? Matt Larkin and Steven Ellis share their thoughts on the top surprises, snubs, implications going forward and more. We’ll update this post throughout the day as more nations reveal their players.
GROUP A
Canada
Sidney Crosby, F
Nathan MacKinnon, F
Cale Makar, F
Connor McDavid, F
Brayden Point, F
Sam Reinhart, F
Five of the six players Canada named for the 4 Nations a year ago return in their initial half dozen for the Olympics. Golden Goal scorer McDavid remains the team’s top superstar, backed up by 4 Nations MVP MacKinnon and presumed captain Crosby, who will be 38 by the 2026 Winter Games but remains one of the world’s top players. Makar could be even better in Milan after an illness shortened his time at the 4 Nations. Reinhart, one of the sport’s best all-around forwards and the 2024-25 Selke Trophy runner-up, takes the spot that his Florida Panthers teammate Brad Marchand earned a year ago. Marchand has shown he has plenty left in his tank during a legendary playoff run, but there’s no reason to pick the 37-year-old over a lock like Reinhart. The Canada brass can wait and confirm that age isn’t catching up to Marchand before naming him in early 2026. The Canadians still have the best top-end superstar talent of any team, and while they can’t match the defensemen and goaltending depth of USA and Sweden, that didn’t stop Canada from prevailing at the 4 Nations. – MATT LARKIN
Czechia
Lukas Dostal, G
Radko Gudas, D
Martin Necas, F
Ondrej Palat, F
David Pastrnak, F
Pavel Zacha, F
After David Pastrnak was so vocally disappointed that Czechia wasn’t included in the 4 Nations, it’ll be great to see his superstar talent unleashed in Milan. He and Necas and arguably Dostal were locks for this announcement, but the six as a whole skew slightly toward the intangible. Tomas Hertl and Filip Hronek would’ve been superior picks to Ondrej Palat and Radko Gudas for pure talent, but the latter two played on the 2024 gold medal team at the Worlds. Hertl and Hronek did not. All six players named Monday were part of the 2024 championship team, in fact. Hertl and Hronek will obviously make the next cut, of course, as Czechia’s group is relatively shallow compared to the glory-days teams it ran out in the late 1990s. – MATT LARKIN
France
Yohann Auvitu, D
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, F
Jules Boscq, D
Hugo Gallet, D
Jordann Perrett, F
Alexandre Texier, F
This team is going to lack speed and a true difference-maker. While some other smaller nations can rely on a proven goal-scorer to help lift them up – Denmark’s Nikolaj Ehlers, for example – France simply doesn’t have that. Their most important player at the most recent World Championship, goaltender Antoine Keller, wasn’t one of the six players named today. Texier is the lone NHLer, but even he’s a depth forward at best in St. Louis. Bellemare can still be quite effective for a 40-year-old, but his age started to show at points at the World Championship. France is going to have a rough time in Group A, simple as that.
Switzerland
Kevin Fiala, F
Nico Hischier, F
Roman Josi, D
Timo Meier, F
Nino Niederreiter, F
Jonas Siegenthaler, D
Ignore the Swiss at your peril. The team has played in the championship game at the past two World Championships, and they’ll be bringing back a lot of the same core to Italy. Their power play is going to be stout, especially with Josi leading the back end and Meier crashing the crease. The Swiss should have some decent goaltending, too, but they’ll need their veteran blueliners to play some mighty-fine shutdown defense. Switzerland is definitely an underdog medal candidate, and the fans should be excited about this first group. – STEVEN ELLIS
GROUP B
Finland
Sebastian Aho, F
Aleksander Barkov, F
Miro Heiskanen, D
Esa Lindell, D
Mikko Rantanen, F
Juuse Saros, G
This group didn’t feel quite as straightforward as the 4 Nations First Six a year ago – even though it’s the same six players named. Saros is still Finland’s best goalie, but he’s fresh off a disappointing 2024-25 season with the Nashville Predators and, more importantly, was replaced by Kevin Lankinen mid-tournament at the 4 Nations after getting thrashed by Team USA for six goals in Finland’s first game. Saros remains the favorite to start over Lankinen and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, but when a goaltender isn’t even your surefire No. 1, do you have to name him 7.5 months out? On pure talent, Roope Hintz deserved a nod. And while Lindell was a safe pick for the D-corps, Niko Mikkola sure has been impressive for the Florida Panthers in the playoffs. I wouldn’t have minded seeing at least one new name for a Finnish squad that placed last at the 4 Nations. Nevertheless, when you think about all the players not included Monday, including the likes of Mikael Granlund and Artturi Lehkonen, it’s clear the Pesky Finns have a reasonably deep team and will contend for a medal in Milan. – MATT LARKIN
Italy
Damian Clara, G
Diego Kostner, F
Thomas Larkin, D
Daniel Mantenuto, F
Tommy Purdeller, F
Luca Zanatta, D
The Italians are the lone team that didn’t play in the top division of the World Championship this year. If there’s one name you need to know for Italy, it’s Damien Clara. The Anaheim Ducks prospect is one of the most fascinating goaltending prospects in the game today and will absolutely be the backbone of this team. Tommy Purdeller will be one of the driving forces behind the team’s scoring attack. He had an excellent Division IA tournament a few months back and is one of the young, rising stars of the program. Larkin will be the team’s most important defensive defenseman and will likely be the captain, too. Italy will be the weakest team in the tournament, but they’ve got some decent young players looking to prove themselves and that’s exciting for a program that hasn’t had much going for them. – STEVEN ELLIS
Slovakia
Erik Cernak, D
Martin Fehervary, D
Simon Nemec, D
Martin Pospisil, F
Juraj Slafkovsky, F
Tomas Tatar, F
The Slovaks had a rough showing at the World Championship, with most of their NHL talent electing to stay home. Not a single player from that team was named to the roster today, so it looks like there isn’t any ill will right now, at least. Slafkovsky was incredible at the 2022 Olympics, taking home tournament MVP. The competition will be much stronger this time around, but given his progression the past two years, he should be a key contributor in Italy. Beyond that, though, there aren’t a ton of scoring options to work with. You have to wonder if they’ll take someone like Dalibor Dvorsky for his speed and scoring acumen, despite being so young still. But this team doesn’t have a high-end goalie to work with, so their D-corps will need to step it up. – STEVEN ELLIS
Sweden
Rasmus Dahlin, D
Victor Hedman, D
Adrian Kempe, F
Gabriel Landeskog, F
William Nylander, F
Lucas Raymond, F
The Landeskog announcement is huge. Not only did he look truly healthy in the Stanley Cup playoffs after not playing for three years, he now gets a major vote of confidence from his country, earning a First Six spot ahead of prominent contributors such as Filip Forsberg and Mika Zibanejad. Dahlin getting the early nod over Erik Karlsson and Gustav Forsling signals a shift toward building around younger prime-year players, as does choosing Raymond up front. Not selecting a goalie was the right call given how close the competition between Jacob Markstrom, Linus Ullmark and Filip Gustavsson is. The Swedes are a clear top-three contender for Milan. They finished third at the 4 Nations, but both their defeats came in overtime. – MATT LARKIN
GROUP C
Denmark
Frederik Andersen, G
Oliver Bjorkstrand, F
Nikolaj Ehlers, F
Lars Eller, F
Jesper Jensen Abo, D
Jonas Rondbjerg, F
No huge surprises with Denmark’s First Six. It had exactly six players compete in NHL games this past season, and five made the cut Monday. Ehlers and Bjorkstrand bring speed and skill, while Andersen is capable of getting hot and making a difference in a short tournament. Goalie Mads Sogaard was the only active NHLer not to get a call; instead, it went to blueliner Jensen Abo, a longtime Danish staple at international tournaments who has accumulated pro experience in the SHL, Liiga, German League and most recently the top Austrian circuit. It’s hard to argue with any of the picks, but it would’ve been nice to see Nick Olesen get the call. He led Denmark in scoring during its Cinderella run at the 2025 Worlds and scored the winning goal to knock Canada out of the quarterfinal round. He made the tournament All-Star team to boot. Surely he’ll be named to the final Olympic roster, but he arguably deserved First Six recognition. – MATT LARKIN
Germany
Leon Draisaitl, F
Philipp Grubauer, G
Lukas Reichel, F
Moritz Seider, F
Nico Sturm, F
Tim Stutzle, F
It was a bit odd not to see JJ Peterka in the initial six, but these announcements have so little importance, anyway. Barring an injury or some crazy mystical force, Peterka will be there. Beyond that. This is already shaping up to be the best German lineup ever assembled. Draisaitl and Stutzle are two superstars ready to carry the team offensively, while Seider has proven he can be an absolute difference-maker on the international stage, just like he is with Detroit. Grubauer will be one of the worst starting goalies in the tournament, no doubt, but he has played some decent hockey internationally. Look for Dominik Kahun to be the most notable player outside of the NHL on this team – he was electric at the Worlds. – STEVEN ELLIS
Latvia
Rodrigo Abols, F
Uvis Balinskis, D
Teddy Blueger, F
Zemgus Girgensons, F
Elvis Merzlikins, G
Arturs Silovs, G
This Latvian team will be a difficult one to play against. They were the first team to announce two goaltenders, and while both are flawed, they typically play great when donning the national team jersey. Abols is one of Latvia’s best shooters and will be relied on to drum up offense on the power plays. Blueger will bring the speed and two-way play, and he’s coming off a decent season in Vancouver, too. Girgensons will bring the leadership and NHL experience while providing help down the middle, potentially in the bottom six like he does in the NHL. Balinskis is a good shutdown guy who isn’t afraid to lay the body, too. Don’t be surprised if Silovs – the top goaltender from the 2023 World Championship – overtakes Merzlikins as the No. 1 at some point in this tournament. – STEVEN ELLIS
United States
Jack Eichel, F
Quinn Hughes, D
Auston Matthews, F
Charlie McAvoy, D
Brady Tkachuk, F
Matthew Tkachuk, F
Team USA’s First Six reveal tells us a lot. Brady Tkachuk wasn’t initially named a year ago but was so dominant at the 4 Nations alongside his brother Matthew that Brady was a must. He takes the spot of blueliner Adam Fox, who struggled at the 4 Nations. The other five names are the same last last year’s initial group. Matthew Tkachuk, Eichel and Matthews were locks. After Hughes and McAvoy had their 4 Nations wiped out completely and shortened, respectively, due to injury, they get do-overs. Team USA was just a goal short of glory at the 4 Nations and deserves co-favorite status alongside Canada for the 2026 Winter Games. The most noteworthy absence in the First Six is that of reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck. He was outduelled by Canada’s Jordan Binnington in the 4 Nations championship game, then had a wild postseason with the Winnipeg Jets, alternating between tire fire and brilliant. There was no need to name Hellebuyck early when Jake Oettinger has at worst pulled even in the battle for No. 1 American goaltender status in 2026. – MATT LARKIN
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