2026 Olympics: Early roster projections for the seven ‘underdog’ teams

Oct 2, 2025, 11:36 EDTUpdated: Oct 2, 2025, 12:54 EDT

2026 Olympics: Early roster projections for the seven ‘underdog’ teams

Credit: Kuzmin Yury

Final preliminary Olympic rosters of 22 skaters and three goalies must be submitted by Dec. 31 – so there’s plenty of time to go before important decisions need to be made.

Over the past few months, we have examined projected rosters for the 2026 Winter Olympics. You have the obvious contenders, like Canada, USA and Sweden, the 2024 World Champions from Czechia and the defending Olympic gold medalists from Finland.

But what about the rest of the crop? We already know the first six players of all 12 teams (with Finland needing to find a replacement for Aleksander Barkov), but those are the easy picks. Over the next few months, every team will be looking to find the right guys to challenge for gold, using various tournaments, league events, and more to finalize their teams.

Here’s a look at the seven remaining rosters we haven’t projected on Daily Faceoff so far this year:

Denmark

Nick Olesen – Lars Eller – Nikolaj Ehlers
Joachim Blichfield – Alexander True – Oliver Bjorkstrand
Patrick Russell – Oscar Fisker Mølgaard – Jonas Rondbjerg
Mikkel Aagaard – Chrstian Wejse – Nicklas Jensen
Nicolai Meyer, Frederik Storm

Matias Lassen – Philip Bruggisser
Nicholas B. Jensen – Oliver Larsen
Oliver Lauridsen – Markus Lauridsen
Anders Koch – Jesper Jensen Aabo

Frederik Andersen
Frederik Dichow
Mads Sogaard

The Danes will be flying high from their shocking fourth-place finish at the 2025 World Championship, highlighted by their playoff victory over Canada. The breakout tournament from Nick Olesen will likely pin him alongside top Danish forward Nikolaj Ehlers and NHL veteran Lars Eller.

From there, this is one of the deepest teams Denmark has ever put together. It’s not a great blueline, but both Freddies – Andersen and Dichow – are capable of stealing games in net. Oscar Fisker Mølgaard as a third-line center would be huge, too – he’ll likely be the No. 1 come 2030. Like many other teams on this list, the Danes will rely on established chemistry, which is why the result at the World Championship was so crucial.

France

Alexandre Texier – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Jordan Perret
Sebastian Da Costa – Louis Boudoin – Pierrick Dube
Tim Bozon – Nicolas Ritz – Kevin Bozon
Damien Fleury – Charles Bertrand – Sacha Treille
Baptiste Bruche, Anthony Rech

Hugo Gallet – Yohann Auvitu
Jules Boscq – Pierre Crinon
Kevin Spinozzi – Vincent Llorca
Enzo Guebey – Florian Chakiachvili

Antoine Keller
Quentin Papillon
Julian Junca

This is it: this is the grand finale for Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. The long-time NHLer will turn 41 shortly after the Olympics and then call it quits at the end of his time in Switzerland. He has been a fixture on the French national team for decades, having first played in an Olympic qualification tournament in 2004, in an attempt to help France qualify for the 2006 Winter Games. This will be his first actual Olympic tournament, though, with France taking advantage of Russia’s removal from the event.

Beyond that, this won’t be a deep team. Alexandre Texier, a St. Louis Blues forward, is the lone NHLer on the team. Antoine Keller, a Washington Capitals prospect, will look to be the team’s No. 1 goaltender, but veteran Quentin Papillon will have other plans. Sebastian Da Costa and Tim Bozon are the other forwards with NHL ties, and they’ll be counted on. France has decent shutdown defender options, but they’re going to be overworked in Group A.

Notably, France is the only Division IA World Championship team participating in this tournament.

Germany

Dominik Kahun – Leon Draisaitl – JJ Peterka
Lukas Reichel – Tim Stutzle – Leo Pfoderl
Wojciech Stachowiak – Nico Sturm – Yasin Ehliz
Josh Samanski – Marc Michaelis – Justin Schutz
Frederik Tiffels, Alexander Ehl

Maksymilian Szuber – Moritz Seider
Jonas Muller – Kai Wissman
Lukas Kalble – Leon Huttl
Moritz Muller – Leon Gawanke

Philipp Grubauer
Mathias Niederberger
Tobias Ancicka

This German team means business. Leon Draisaitl? Check. Moritz Seider? You bet. Tim Stutzle? Sign us up. It’s a legit team with some decent options at every position, and with recent success on the national team level. There are a few carryovers from the 2018 Olympic team that nearly won gold, as well as a few others who took home silver at the 2023 World Championship. If all goes well, Germany could secure second place in Group C behind the United States.

Up front, Germany has never been more dangerous. Draisaitl is one of the best players in the world and easily the biggest superstar Germany has ever had. Tim Stutzle would be the No. 1 center on just about every other team listed here, but he’ll be the ultimate No. 2 instead. JJ Peterka and Dominik Kahun are proven performers internationally and will be given every opportunity to do the same again on the biggest stage. I like Josh Samanski as a fourth-liner – he might see some time in Edmonton this year as a fourth-liner, and he’d be great in the same role again this year. Seider is the shining star on defense, but he’ll need to carry a lot of the slack in front of the goaltending crop Germany has. Overall, it’s a solid team, and their warts are nowhere near as bad as others listed here are.

Italy

Mikael Frycklund – Daniel Mantenuto – Tommy Purdeller
Alex Ierullo – Bryce Misley – Daniel Tedesco
Dustin Gazley – Diego Kostner – Marco Zanetti
Daniel Catenacci – Daniel Frank – Alex Petan
Luca Frigo, Matthias Mantinger

Thomas Larkin – Alex Trivellato
Luca Zanatta – Daniel Glira
Greg DiTomaso – Phil Pietroniro
Dylan Di Perna – Jason Seed

Davide Fadani
Damian Clara
Jacob Smith

The hosts will want to put on a show, just like they did when they won the Division IA title a few months back. As expected, they have a number of dual citizens, including former Minnesota Wild prospect Bryce Misley and national team standouts Greg DiTomaso and Thomas Larkin. Italy’s goaltending will be fascinating to watch. Davide Fagani has looked solid in the top league in Switzerland this year, marking his first real action in the top circuit. He’ll be joined by Anaheim Ducks hopeful Damian Clara, who became the first Italian-born goaltender drafted to the NHL.

Who’ll do the scoring? Daniel Tedesco was excellent at the DIA World Championship, with Misley and Tommy Purdeller looking stout, as well. Daniel Mantenuto had a quieter tournament, but he is typically a solid performer, as is Diego Kostner. If the Italians are going to make noise, though, they’ll need their blueliners like DiTomaso and Phil Pietroniro to chip in with the puck, as well.

Latvia

Rudolfs Balcers – Dans Locmelis – Eduards Tralmaks
Martins Dzierkals – Teddy Blugers – Sandis Vilmanis
Rihards Bukarts – Rodrigo Abols – Kaspars Daugavins
Renars Krastenbergs – Zemgus Girgensons – Anri Ravinskis
Haralds Egle, Miks Indrasis

Uvis Balinskis – Ralfs Freibergs
Kristians Rubins – Roberts Mamcics
Kristaps Zile – Janis Jaks
Tumanovs – Markuss Komuls

Elvis Merzlikins
Artus Silovs
Kristers Gudlevskis

Unlike Germany, Switzerland or Slovakia, the Latvians don’t have “the guy” who can take over offensively and win a game or two. That being said, they’ve got loads of chemistry thanks to icing a very similar lineup throughout various national team tournaments each year and a few players with NHL experience.

Goaltending is the team’s biggest strength, which can be interpreted as both a positive and a negative aspect. Elvis Merzlikins is coming off a rough year in Columbus but has typically put up a fight internationally. If he falters early, they could go with Arturs Silovs, who won top goalie honors at the 2023 World Championship.

Up front, Dans Locmelis is one of Boston’s top prospects and should get plenty of playing time – especially if he thrives like he did at the 2025 World Championship. Eduards Tralmaks was particularly good in that tournament and should get plenty of opportunities to play in all situations. Vancouver Canucks forward Teddy Blugers is the most seasoned NHL forward, with 418 games of experience, and he has typically performed well for his country (albeit in limited playing time). Latvia doesn’t feature much skill, but they’ll grind you down with solid defending – but just how far will that take them?

Slovakia

Peter Cehlarik – Martin Pospisil – Juraj Slafkovsky
Tomas Tatar – Dalibor Dvorsky – Oliver Okuliar
Pavol Regenda – Adam Sykora – Jakub Demek
Robert Lantosi – Samuel Honzek – Marek Hrivik
Milos Roman, Kristian Pospisil

Erik Cernak – Simon Nemec
Martin Fehervary – Patrik Koch
Samuel Knazko – Peter Ceresenak
Michal Ivan – Martin Gernat

Samuel Hlavaj
Adam Huska
Adam Gajan

The Slovaks didn’t have a single full-time NHL player on their roster at the 2025 World Championship, and they ultimately missed the playoffs. They will have some NHL representation in Italy, albeit not as extensive as they had when they pursued a medal in 2010. The Slovaks took home bronze in 2022, but it was the last tournament without NHLers. Fortunately, Juraj Slafkovsky is back – and if he can channel that dominant energy he had nearly four years ago, Slovakia should put up a fight.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much available beyond that point. Dalibor Dvorsky, Martin Pospisil, Adam Sykora, and Samuel Honzek are promising young forwards, but they’re nowhere at the level of Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra, Marian Hossa, Michal Handzus, or Richard Zednik in 2010, among others. Defensively, look for Erik Cernak and Martin Fehervary to carry the load, while Samuel Hlavaj will hope to steal a game or two in net. With no NHL goaltenders to choose from, though, it could get ugly. This isn’t a strong Slovak roster, but you can never truly count them out against the big dogs at any level.

Switzerland

Kevin Fiala – Nico Hischier – Timo Meier
Nino Niederreiter – Pius Suter – Philipp Kurashev
Sven Andrighetto – Denis Malgin – Tyler Moy
Damial Riat – Simon Knak – Christoph Bertschy
Ken Jäger, Gaëtan Haas

Roman Josi – Jonas Siegenthaler
JJ Moser – Lian Bichsel
Dean Kukan – Christian Marti
Michael Fora – Tim Berni

Leonardo Genoni
Akira Schmid
Reto Berra

No team punches about their perceived weight at the World Championship better than Switzerland. The team is fresh off consecutive second-place finishes, largely due to a combination of Kevin Fiala, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Roman Josi, and Jonas Siegenthaler, among others (notably, Josi missed 2025 due to injury). However, it’s their non-NHL players that make this team deep. Denis Malgin and Sven Andrighetto, for example, were absolutely critical to Switzerland’s success back in May. The team’s fourth line is full of experienced players who know a thing or two about working their tails off.

Defensively, it’s still an NHL-dominated position, but Dean Kukan and Christian Marti are difficult to play against. In net, Leonardo Genoni should get the No. 1 job over Akira Schmid, even though the latter is an active NHLer. Genoni might not be a household name to NHL fans, but he has been a dominant force throughout his entire career in Europe. He proved that back in May, when he earned tournament MVP honors with four shutouts in seven games. He’s 38, but he’s showing few signs of slowing down.

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