We now know the first six players who will represent the USA Hockey team at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
The list was announced on June 16 and includes Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, Matthew Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes, and Charlie McAvoy. Newly-hired New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan will coach the team, and the Minnesota Wild’s GM Bill Guerin will serve as the general manager for the 2026 Olympic team.
Beyond these first six, who can we expect to fill out the rest of the lineup for USA in Italy? Here’s a projected first line, first defensive pairing, and starting goaltender for Team USA.
Center – Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs
While he does face some competition from Vegas center Eichel, Matthews likely fills the same role he did in the Four Nations tournament as Team USA’s starter down the middle.
It’s also possible that Matthews retains the captaincy he had in the midseason tournament.
Matthews had three assists in the February tournament, where Team USA finished second. He was also a +1 on the ice.
While Matthews has competed in international play for Team USA before, 2026 will be his first time in the Olympics. He won Gold with Team USA in the IIHF U18 Tournament in 2015 and also competed in the World Juniors twice, as well as in the World Championship and the World Cup of Hockey in 2016.
This past regular season, Matthews had 33 goals and 45 assists with a +11 on the ice.
Left Wing – Jake Guentzel, Lightning
While Guentzel was not announced among the initial six players announced, he’ll likely still be on Team USA in the Olympics this upcoming winter.
The 30-year-old skated on the first line for the Americans in the Four Nations Tournament, where he had three goals and an assist. He was also a +2 on plus/minus.
Guentzel currently plays for Tampa after being traded by the Carolina Hurricanes on June 30, 2024. This past regular season, he had 41 goals and 39 assists for the Lightning. He also contributed three goals in Tampa’s short five-game playoff run.
Before Carolina, Guentzel was part of the 2017 Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup team.
The Four Nations Tournament was the first experience in international play for the Omaha, Nebraska native.
Right Wing – Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers
Tkachuk, alongside his brother Brady, became the heart and soul of the Team USA roster in the Four Nations Tournament.
It’s no surprise, then, that both Tkachuks were named as part of the initial batch of selections for the Olympic team. However, they’re probably the most likely players to cause an international incident on the entire US Olympic Team.
The brothers quickly achieved folk-hero status when they fought members of Team Canada nine seconds into their Four Nations round-robin meeting. Although fighting is not allowed in Olympic hockey — any player who engages in a fight will receive an ejection and a five-minute penalty — they’ll still have a significant impact on the identity of Team USA.
Tkachuk sustained an injury while playing in the Four Nations that kept him off the ice until Florida’s playoff run began, which ended in a second-straight Stanley Cup win.
Tkachuk competed previously for Team USA in the IIHF U18 and U20 World Championships, earning gold and bronze medals, respectively.
Left Defenseman – Quinn Hughes, Canucks
Hughes’ absence from Team USA in the Four Nations caused a stir and some allegations of nationalist-spurred collusion by Vancouver’s front office.
The Canucks did not clear Hughes off the injured list, which would have allowed him to travel to Boston for the Four Nations Finals. This led Brady Tkachuk to subsequently accuse Vancouver’s front office of doing this on purpose, calling it “shady business” on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast.
“We all know who they were cheering for,” he said.
Hughes will now have the opportunity to skate on the top defensive pairing for Team USA in the Olympics.
In 68 games played this regular season, Hughes had 16 goals and 60 assists and a plus/minus of +2. He also won the Norris Memorial Trophy in the 2023-24 season.
He’s already competed in international play for Team USA six times in his career, including in the 2017 IIHF U18 Tournament, where he won gold.
Right Defenseman – Charlie McAvoy, Bruins
McAvoy will likely be the right-shot defenseman on Team USA’s first defensive pairing. Like Hughes, he was sidelined from the Four Nations Finals due to medical issues, and there was a fair amount of murkiness surrounding his injury as well.
He sustained an injury to his shoulder on February 13 in a game against Finland in the tournament in Montreal. But when he returned to Boston for the Finals, his condition worsened, and it was discovered by staff at Mass General Hospital that he had developed a rare staph infection.
McAvoy didn’t play for the rest of the season.
According to a report from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Bruins higher-ups were “extremely unhappy” with the treatment he received on the initial shoulder injury from Team USA’s medical staff, which is also the Minnesota Wild’s medical staff.
However, the past won’t stop McAvoy from making his return to international play with Team USA at the 2026 Olympics.
McAvoy has competed for Team USA five times in his career, including in their bronze-medal effort at the 2018 World Championships.
Goalie – Jeremy Swayman, Bruins
This may be my most controversial pick here, but I believe Swayman will get the starting goaltender job over Connor Hellebuyck at the 2026 Olympics.
The 26-year-old Alaska native had a return to form with Team USA at this year’s IIHF World Championships, helping the Americans win gold.
Swayman went undefeated in the tournament with a 1.69 GAA and a .920 save percentage. An astonishing improvement over the lackluster numbers he had with Boston this regular season, a 3.11 GAA and a .892 save percentage.
He was one of the goaltenders available for Team USA in the Four Nations tournament, but did not receive any time in net.
While Hellebuyck had a strong performance in the Four Nations, his record in big games is pretty terrible, as evidenced by his near-meltdown in the playoffs this year with Winnipeg.
Team USA should ride the hot hand and keep Swayman in net.
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