Alexandre Texier is the lone active NHLer to be named, though Yohann Auvitu and Pierre-Édouard Bellemare are ex-NHL players. They will join Italy as the other de facto underdog. The host nation will boast a squad of relative unknowns for the 2026 Olympic Games. The definition of an underdog team.

The 12 nations that qualified for the 2026 Olympic men's hockey tournament are naming the first six players to their rosters on Monday. The final 25-man rosters will be named closer to the start of the Milan Cortina Games,

The NHL returns to the Winter Olympics. Here are the six players that made the preliminary roster for Team USA and all 11 other countries competing.