A report from TSN stated that all countries participating in Ice Hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy will need to name the first six players to their rosters in June. The 4 Nations Face-Off followed a similar format where the nations named their “first six” well before the remainder of the roster.
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The games run from Feb. 5-22, 2026. 12 countries will be participating, split into three groups (A, B and C). It’ll be the first time National Hockey League (NHL) players participate at the winter games since Sochi, Russia in 2014. Here are the six players from each country who should be named to their respective rosters:
Note: Italics means the player is not expected to play in the NHL next season. This helps give some perspective towards the depth of each nation.
Group A – Canada
F Nathan MacKinnon, F Connor McDavid, F Sidney Crosby, F Mitch Marner, F Brad Marchand, D Cale Makar
This group is close to the same from their initial 4 Nations group, except Brayden Point is replaced with Marner who had a higher 2024-25 point total, but it’s all semantics; both will be named at some point regardless. Canada should be the favorite for the entire tournament, but goaltending is the only question mark, which is why no one should be named (yet).
Group A – Czechia
F David Pastrnak, F Pavel Zacha, F Martin Necas, F Tomas Hertl, D Filip Hronek, G Lukas Dostal
The Czechs can certainly make some noise, but lack the depth that some other nations have. This first six is a great start. It would not be surprising to see Pastrnak play upwards of 25 minutes in important games.
Group A – Switzerland
F Nico Hischier, F Nino Niederreiter, F Timo Meier, F Kevin Fiala, D Roman Josi, G Leonardo Genoni
The Swiss have still yet to get over their gold medal hump at the World Championships (WC), and gold seems much less feasible at the Olympic Games. However, they’re still a very talented group with some elite NHL talent. With his tremendous performances on the world stage year in and year out, the 38-year-old Genoni certainly earned the right to be named.
Group A – France
F Alexandre Texier, F Jordann Perret, F Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, F Tim Bozon, D Hugo Gallet, G Antoine Keller
With just one single NHLer in Texier, the French would be lucky if they won a single game. They *almost* took down Finland at…
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