USA Hockey Prepares for Orientation Before This Winter’s Olympic Games

As the summer is about to finish up, the fall will come, and the temperatures will drop. That means when October comes, it will start the regular season of a brand new NHL season. But with 2026 around the corner, it also means that we will have the Winter Olympics that will be played in Italy, within the cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

This is the time when USA Hockey will start its roster hunting to fill out the necessary complement of players and alternates, to hunt for any type of medal, but of course, always looking for gold. There will be forty four players attending an Orientation in Plymouth, Michigan, and they will be some of the big names from the NHL that were a part of the Four Nations Faceoff that performed last February.

From Jonathan Tovall of The Hockey News, through Yahoo Sports, the Orientation is scheduled for two days on August 26th & 27th. This camp will be used for administrative and team-building purposes and does not feature any formal on-ice activity or public component. But it’s refreshing to know that USA Hockey is ready to see which of these players will join the original six that were announced for the Olympics several months ago.

Five of the invites were a part of the Olympics in the past. Patrick Kane had two stints in 2010 & 2014, Ryan McDonagh in 2014, Brock Faber, Matthew Knies, and Jake Sanderson were college players on that 2022 Olympic Team that didn’t feature NHL players. The final roster will be announced in early January 2026. Here is the list of Forwards, Defensemen, and Goaltenders that are listed.

FORWARDS

Matt Boldy: MINNESOTA WILD
Cole Caufield: MONTREAL CANADIENS
Logan Cooley: UTAH MAMMOTH
Kyle Connor: WINNIPEG JETS
Jack Eichel: VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Conor Garland: VANCOUVER CANUCKS
Jake Guentzel: TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Jack Hughes: NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Patrick Kane: DETROIT RED WINGS
Clayton Keller: UTAH MAMMOTH
Matthew Knies: TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Chris Kreider: ANAHEIM DUCKS
Dylan Larkin: DETROIT RED WINGS
Auston Matthews: TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
J.T. Miller: NEW YORK RANGERS
Frank Nazar: CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
Brock Nelson: COLORADO AVALANCHE
Shane Pinto: OTTAWA SENATORS
Jason Robertson: DALLAS STARS
Bryan Rust: PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Tage Thompson: BUFFALO SABRES
Brady Tkachuk: OTTAWA SENATORS
Matthew Tkachuk: FLORIDA PANTHERS
Vincent Trocheck: NEW YORK RANGERS
Alex Tuch: BUFFALO SABRES

DEFENSEMEN:

Brock Faber: MINNESOTA WILD
Adam Fox: NEW YORK RANGERS
Luke Hughes: NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Quinn Hughes: VANCOUVER CANUCKS
Noah Hanifin: VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Seth Jones: FLORIDA PANTHERS
Jackson LaCombe: ANAHEIM DUCKS
Charlie McAvoy: BOSTON BRUINS
Brett Pesce: NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Neal Pionk: WINNIPEG JETS
Jake Sanderson: OTTAWA SENATORS
Brady Skjei: NASHVILLE PREDATORS
Jaccob Slavin: CAROLINA HURRICANES
Alex Vlasic: CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
Zach Werenski: COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

GOALTENDERS:

Joey Daccord: SEATTLE KRAKEN
Connor Hellebuyck: WINNIPEG JETS
Jake Oettinger: DALLAS STARS
Jeremy Swayman: BOSTON BRUINS