USA Hockey has officially announced its 25-man roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. The roster was contested until the final days and features a few players who didn’t appear with the U.S. at the 2025 4-Nations Face-Off. The full roster is as follows:
Forwards
- LW Matt Boldy (Wild)
- LW Kyle Connor (Jets)
- C Jack Eichel (Golden Knights)
- LW Jake Guentzel (Lightning)
- C Jack Hughes (Devils)
- LW Clayton Keller (Mammoth)
- C Dylan Larkin (Red Wings)
- C Auston Matthews (Maple Leafs)
- C J.T. Miller (Rangers)
- C Brock Nelson (Avalanche)
- RW Tage Thompson (Sabres)
- LW Brady Tkachuk (Senators)
- RW Matthew Tkachuk (Panthers)
- C Vincent Trocheck (Rangers)
Defense
- D Brock Faber (Wild)
- D Noah Hanifin (Golden Knights)
- D Quinn Hughes (Wild)
- D Seth Jones (Panthers)
- D Charlie McAvoy (Bruins)
- D Jake Sanderson (Senators)
- D Jaccob Slavin (Hurricanes)
- D Zach Werenski (Blue Jackets)
Goaltenders
- G Connor Hellebuyck (Jets)
- G Jake Oettinger (Stars)
- G Jeremy Swayman (Bruins)
As expected, Team USA is bringing a star-studded front to what’s sure to be a closely contested Olympic Games. Their strongest pillar stands in the net, where reigning NHL MVP Hellebuyck will be making his Olympic debut. Helleybuyck has fallen to a .907 save percentage in 22 games this season – but his track record of dominant play stretches back years. He has recorded a save percentage north of .910 in each of the last eight seasons, including five years north of a .920. He’s held onto those routinely league-topping numbers while playing upwards of 60 games a season.
Helleybuyck could back a potentially explosive offense. The States tied for the most goals at the 4 Nations tournament while leaning on Guentzel, Eichel, and the Tkachuk brothers to strong-arm the offense, while smooth-moving Werenski led the tourney in scoring with six assists. Boldy and Matthews were also key pieces of the 4 Nations offense, each netting three points.
Notably, the United States did not have former Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes at the 4 Nations tournament. Hughes missed the tournament due to injury and was replaced by Sanderson, who did enough to earn an Olympic berth. But Hughes’ impact could be a tourney-winning X-factor. The 26-year-old has 30 points in 27 games this season and is only two years removed from a 92-point campaign with the Vancouver Canucks. He is among the – or perhaps thee – best offensive defensemen in hockey and should gel well in his first return to international play since 2019.
Speaking of 2019 – USA Hockey will finally see the fruits of the historic 2019 USNTDP class with this tournament. Jack Hughes and Boldy were stars on that lineup and have only emerged further since breaking into the NHL. Both players offer unwavering offensive impact – but the question will be whether the States feel cheeky enough to play the two together. Their chemistry in junior hockey was unrivaled in the few games they played alongside each other, though Hughes would end up taking on Cole Caufield as his de facto linemate. Still, Hughes and Boldy were the keys to the NTDP offense that season, and have now earned the right to wear the crest at the top level.
The rest of the roster is, generally, rounded out by USA mainstays like the hard-nosed McAvoy, top-end goaltenders Oettinger and Swayman, and – surely to some fans’ dismay – the winning veteran presence of Nelson. All four players were a part of the USA’s 4 Nations squad and will return to their depth roles in this tournament.
There are some new faces in the mix, though. Rather than bring Chris Kreider, the USA has opted to bring high-scoring Sabres forward Tage Thompson and reliable front-man in Utah, Clayton Keller. The two undoubtedly earned their stay during the USA’s 2025 World Championship Gold Medal run that saw Keller score 10 points and Thompson score nine in 10 games. They were two heartbeats of the lineup and should continue to offer versatile impact without the need for top minutes.
With this lineup in place, Team USA will take its stand as a true medal favorite for the 2026 Olympic Games. Their toughest test will come at the hands of Canadian and Swedish offenses capable of pouring on the scoring. Team USA found as much out at the 4 Nations, where Canada emerged with the tourney win. But with a robust goaltending room and multiple additions to fortify their scoring, the American side should bring an explosive boost to the Winter Games.
Looks like a Bronze medal winning roster. Nice job Billy G.
This is seriously a joke. Once again, they left themselves with 11 lefthanded forwards and only 3 righties (Caufield and DeBrincat are both RH shots). Leaving that much offense off the roster is criminal.
@Gbear — Kind of looks like they’re counting on scoring from the backend, to make up for it, eh?
@Mac – If Thompson plays center, that will leave them with every RW with a LH shot. That’s insanity.
.no place for pplay only players,
Out of Caufield’s 20 goals, only 4 are PPG. Sounds like a pretty good 5 on 5 output to me.
No Robertson makes this roster so unserious. I think you could argue he’s the best American forward in the NHL
Brock Nelson. F**k out of here
This is the roster of a GM playing scared for his job, not playing to win.
Super disappointing. Especially after the trade for Quinn inflated his balls two sizes in the minds of the hockey world.
Embarrassing that JT Miller on team. That in itself ensures bronze at best
Brock Nelson is 6’4”… that’s why he’s there and not someone else. I think one of Miller/Trochek is sus when Robo and Caulfield, among others, are chilling.
The hockey boys club is such a cancer. No Caufield and Robertson because Trochek and Jt Miller yeah ok 😂
If the American team wins Gold or even a metal the goaltending will be the reason why. I will say this team will surprise alot of you. This is coming from a true Canadian.
Robertson has been the best US born player in the league this year, Robertson, Caufield, and DeBrincat are a mile better than Nelson right now, and Seth Jones making this team is kinda laughable too, almost as laughable as Team Canada’s goaltending trio as Logan Thompson is their only good goaltender while Binnington is ranked 59 out of 61 goalies with an 870 save percentage and Hill is trash as well, Cirelli making Canada over Bedard is a joke too
Plenty of not so great decisions for each country
Bouchard over Schaeffer was also a joke by Canada as well
If we could make up a roster of the best players left off the U.S. and Canada rosters, we might just win gold.
I just penciled out this lineup and, by God, you’re not wrong.
@Nsco1996, you realize Bouchard didnt make it either?
You need pk players too ,don’t see Caufield or the cat or robo on the pk
I’d do two of them on PK2 and plenty of other options.
Snubbing CC and Debrincat in favor of Matthew Tkachck (totally wrong style of player for Olympic hockey, and hasn’t played a game this season…come on) and Miller (terrible team player, just because of Sullivan…who is a terrible coach to begin with) is unforgivable. Hopefully this will put a nail in Guerin’s USAH management career.
And no Robertson. And Hanafin and Jones instead of Fox and Hutson. Pathetic. They’ll be lucky to make the bronze game.
It’s the opposite, decision makers will see this as the “safe” roster no matter the outcome. It’s the roster equivalent of “nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM.”
Barf.
I can see this being a gold medal winning team unfortunately. The back end in particular is still stacked. Robertson missing the cut is definitely questionable but he’s probably the first man up if a winger goes out with an injury.
Others teams hoping Mathews captain , Miller assistant great great leadership LOL Americans are leaving Demko at home .If healthy He may start for every other team.
Miller, Nelson, Trocheck in place of Caufield and Robertson.
Good grief.
(Even Hanifin and Jones making it ahead of Fox, not to mention Carlson and McDonagh, seems questionable at best)