Barkov, Heiskanen among six players named to Finland’s initial 2026 Olympic roster

The first set of names to represent The Lions has been released.

On Monday, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) released the first six names on the roster for Team Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. Forwards Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov and Mikko Rantanen join defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell, along with goaltender Juuse Saros, for next year’s tournament.

Five of the six players recently competed in the 4 Nations Face-Off, which led to the Finns finishing fourth behind Canada, the United States and rival Sweden. Heiskanen was originally picked to be on the roster, but was taken off the card due to injury.

The last time Heiskanen played for the senior national team was at the 2022 IIHF Men’s World Championship, helping the Leijonat win gold. The Dallas Stars standout also played at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, scoring a goal in five games.

Barkov was the captain for Finland at the 4 Nations, having also played for his country at the last Olympics with NHL participation in Sochi 11 years ago, helping the Finns win bronze. The Florida Panthers captain also competed at the World Cup of Hockey in 2016.

Prior to this year, Saros hadn’t played for the Finnish National Team since 2016, the year Finland took home the silver medal at the world championship. However, the Nashville Predators goaltender ended up playing at the 4 Nations and the Men’s Worlds this year and was named a top-three player for Finland at the Worlds in Sweden.

Lindell was just a little young to play in the 2014 Olympics, though the Stars blueliner did play for Suomi at the World Cup almost nine years ago. He also won gold at the 2022 Men’s Worlds.

Aho was another player on the World Cup team in 2016, though the Carolina Hurricanes star hadn’t played on the senior national team since 2018 prior to this year.

Rantanen will be a key player for Finland, especially with his recent performance with the Stars in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He’s played for the Finns periodically throughout his career, mostly on the World Championship stage.

Currently, Finland is ranked third in the IIHF rankings behind Canada and Russia – who still isn’t allowed to compete in IIHF or Olympic events. Suomi won its first gold at the last Olympics in Beijing three years ago, but there were no NHLers in those or the 2018 Games. The best finish for Finland during the “NHL era” was in 2006, when they lost to Sweden in the gold medal game in Turin.

Next year’s Finnish team will be competing in Group B, where they are likely to contend with Sweden for the top spot in the group, while also facing Slovakia and host Italy.

The men’s tournament is set to begin on Feb. 11, 2026, with the gold medal game scheduled for Feb. 22.