2026 Olympics: Updated Team USA roster projections
With Anthony Trudeau
We’ve crossed the one-month mark of the NHL season. Players hailing from any of the 12 nations competing at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games have seven more weeks to prove themselves worthy of selection for the Olympic teams.
As of Dec. 31, every country must narrow its squad down to 22 skaters and three goaltenders. It’s thus time to update our latest roster projections.
Steven Ellis and I updated out Canada projections last week. This time, Anthony Trudeau and I spruce up our Team USAs.
FORWARDS (14) – Matt Larkin’s picks
| Brady Tkachuk | Jack Eichel | Matthew Tkachuk |
| Matthew Knies | Auston Matthews | Jack Hughes |
| Matt Boldy | Tage Thompson | Cole Caufield |
| Jake Guentzel | Dylan Larkin | Alex Tuch |
| Kyle Connor | Clayton Keller |
OUT: Vincent Trocheck
IN: Alex Tuch
This is a formidable and balanced group. The Tkachuk-Eichel-Tkachuk line will be a terror. Jack Hughes’ playmaking skill can help him recreate the lost Mitch Marner chemistry with Toronto Maple Leafs teammates Knies and Matthews. The third line could be a real matchup nightmare given the sublime scoring ability of Boldy, Thompson and Caufield.
Biggest flex: Maybe I’m galaxy braining a bit by adding Alex Tuch to the team over a couple fast-starting offensive dynamos. But Tuch is such a versatile player. He could slide onto a scoring line but also be used as a grinder and penalty killer.
Toughest cut: How can I not include Cutter Gauthier, who is setting the NHL on fire with the Anaheim Ducks? I didn’t want to overreact to the small (albeit amazing) sample and figured it was time to give Keller his due given he captained USA to gold at the 2025 Worlds. If Gauthier keeps this up, maybe he cracks my December projection.
Also considered: Cutter Gauthier, Jason Robertson, Vincent Trocheck, Brock Nelson, J.T. Miller, Logan Cooley, Chris Kreider, Brock Boeser, Nick Schmaltz, Will Smith, Alex DeBrincat
FORWARDS (14) – Anthony Trudeau’s picks
| Matthew Knies | Auston Matthews | Jake Guentzel |
| Jack Hughes | Jack Eichel | Matthew Tkachuk |
| Brady Tkachuk | Dylan Larkin | Clayton Keller |
| Matthew Boldy | J.T. Miller | Alex Tuch |
| Logan Cooley | Tage Thompson |
OUT: Jason Robertson
IN: Logan Cooley
The American forwards are especially deep on the wings, where Jack Hughes (a center by trade) and Knies, the extra forwards from my summer lineup, have played their way into the regular group with hot starts. Built-in rapport with Maple Leafs’ linemate Matthews could vault Knies all the way into the top six, and the hulking winger’s introduction means each of the top three units has a bruiser lined up opposite a diminutive skill guy. Matt Tkachuk is the heavy on the second line, where Hughes gives speedy centerman Eichel a more natural foil on the rush than Matt’s bigger, meaner brother, Brady.
Biggest Flex: The word is out on Utah Mammoth center Cooley, whose inclusion as an extra pivot shouldn’t be a surprise given the USA’s limited options down the middle. My only flex involving the silky centerman was leaving him on the bench. Miller’s days as a nailed-on 30-goal, 80-point scorer are shrinking in the rearview, but he’s still a faceoff ace and beastly forechecker. The New York Ranger captain’s better situated than Cooley to make an impact in limited minutes, even if that impact isn’t all that likely to end up in the box score.
Toughest Cut: Cole Caufield and Kyle Connor shouldn’t be too surprised about missing out; as one-way scorers, their usefulness is capped outside of top-six roles that aren’t guaranteed on a roster this stacked. The Dallas Stars’ Jason Robertson, meanwhile, has a legit beef as the sort of big, two-way player coach Mike Sullivan seems to value. Robertson still can’t play center like Thompson, and Cooley and doesn’t kill penalties like Alex Tuch and, occasionally, Matt Boldy. The margins are that slim at this level, where everyone is a stud.
Also considered: Jason Robertson, Kyle Connor, Cole Caufield, Trevor Zegras, Alex DeBrincat, Cutter Gauthier, Frank Nazar
DEFENSEMEN (8) – Matt Larkin’s picks
| Quinn Hughes | Charlie McAvoy |
| Zach Werenski | Jake Sanderson |
| Jaccob Slavin | Brock Faber |
| Lane Hutson | Adam Fox |
This D-corps would’ve been beastly at the 4 Nations Face-Off had Hughes and McAvoy been healthy. This group can do it all, blessed with amazing skating ability and shutdown sensibility. You could make a case that almost any of these duos could function as a top pairing.
Biggest flex: Slavin has only played two games this season, and Faber has regressed quite a bit from his stellar rookie year with the Minnesota Wild, but I loved them as a duo at the 4 Nations, so I’m rolling them back out there for Milan.
Toughest cut: Dare I say none? The likes of Luke Hughes and Jackson LaCombe warrant bubble consideration and will likely play on the 2030 team, and John Carlson and Seth Jones would bring Stanley Cup-winning savvy, but I wouldn’t cut any of my top eight for them.
Also considered: Luke Hughes, Jackson LaCombe, John Carlson, Noah Hanifin, Seth Jones, Zeev Buium
DEFENSEMEN (8) – Anthony Trudeau’s picks
| Quinn Hughes | Charlie McAvoy |
| Jaccob Slavin | Brock Faber |
| Jake Sanderson | Zach Werenski |
| Jackson LaCombe | Seth Jones |
OUT: Noah Hanifin
IN: Jackson LaCombe
A healthy American blueline looks stronger on paper than any other group in the field, save perhaps for the aging Swedes’ D-corps. Quinn Hughes is at worst the second-best defenseman in the world, and McAvoy quickly emerged as an emotional leader for Team USA last February. They were sorely missed in the gold-medal game and will relish the chance to get it right this time. The fill-in top four that emerged at the 4 Nations, particularly Slavin and Faber, did well enough to earn some Olympic job security.
Biggest Flex: I badly wanted to include LaCombe back in July but felt confident Bill Guerin and the USA brass would favor the familiarity of the steady, if unexciting, Noah Hanifin. Hanifin is just now coming back from a month on the shelf, so LaCombe may finally have made up the ground he needs to jump onto the “fourth pair.” No one’s defensive metrics have popped for a Ducks’ team Matt here has described as playing “firewagon hockey,” but LaCombe is a big unit who skates like the wind for 25 minutes a night, chips in offense, and has some edge to him. He’ll be 25 by the time of the opening ceremony, too, so he’s further along developmentally than fellow next wave D-men Lane Hutson and Luke Hughes.
Toughest Cut: The world, or more specifically, Guerin, isn’t ready to deploy a guy Hutson’s size in a tournament of this magnitude. It does feel icky, though, to cut a Norris winner like Fox. He has been excellent under Sullivan in New York, but there might not be enough runway for his reputation to rebound from a forgettable 4 Nations. He’s at his best slowing the game down with the puck on his stick, a style that won’t play in the relentless pace of the medal round. Seth Jones brings more size, snarl, and speed as the extra righty.
Also considered: Noah Hanifin, Adam Fox, John Carlson, Alex Vlasic, Lane Hutson, Brett Pesce
GOALTENDERS (3) – Matt Larkin’s picks
| Connor Hellebuyck |
| Jake Oettinger |
| Thatcher Demko |
OUT: Dustin Wolf
IN: Thatcher Demko
The Americans remain peerless in their pool of netminding talent. I predicted Oettinger would steal the starting job from Hellebuyck for Milan, but Hellebuyck has remained his all-world self early this season, while Oettinger hasn’t shown enough to leapfrog him on the depth chart. They feel entrenched as Team USA’s top two, but the third spot seems up for grabs.
Biggest flex: Injury-prone Vancouver Canucks stopper Demko over the surging Chicago Blackhawk Spencer Knight? Demko remains an elite, top-five-ish netminder when he feels physically right, and he has a larger sample size of success, so I lean his way here.
Toughest cut: Jeremy Swayman has improved year over year after a disastrous 2024-25 but not enough to retain the No. 3 job he held at the 4 Nations. There are too many other American goalies playing well right now.
Also considered: Jeremy Swayman, Dustin Wolf, Spencer Knight, Anthony Stolarz, Joey Daccord
GOALTENDERS (3) – Anthony Trudeau’s picks
| Connor Hellebuyck |
| Jake Oettinger |
| Thatcher Demko |
OUT: Jeremy Swayman
IN: Thatcher Demko
The USA is untouchable in the crease as long as Russia remains banned. Just look who isn’t on the team. Dustin Wolf and Jeremy Swayman are borderline franchise goalies, and Joey Daccord is in the next tier down. Those three don’t have a great chance to touch the blue paint in Milan, where NHL MVP Hellebuyck will lead the way. Dallas’s Oettinger would love to change that during the tournament.
Biggest Flex: Demko’s absence from Olympic orientation camp felt both like an indictment of his lengthy injury record and a challenge to rediscover his dominant best. Demko is one of the most unbeatable netminders on the planet when he’s on, and he’s been on so far in 2025-26 behind a pedestrian Canucks team. His post-to-post explosiveness has often been too much for his body to bear, but if poor form from Hellebuyck or Oettinger necessitates a change on the fly, there are few goalies you’d trust more in a game for your life.
Toughest Cut: Swayman was crucial to Team USA’s drought-breaking World Championship, and a pair of duds have dragged down his numbers in an otherwise excellent start to the season. The Alaskan has the trust of the top brass, but he’s just not as good as a healthy Demko.
Also considered: Jeremy Swayman, Dustin Wolf, Joey Daccord
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