Three Ottawa Senators will have a chance to wear the Stars and Stripes at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in February.

Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk, defenceman Jake Sanderson and centre Shane Pinto were all named to the 44-man Olympic Orientation roster announced by the United States on Tuesday afternoon.

While Tkachuk was among the first six players named to the final roster during the regular season and will be at the Olympics in Milan/Cortina, Italy, as long as he remains healthy, he will also be among the attendees at the camp being held August 26-27 in Plymouth, Mich.

It’s no surprise that the 23-year-old Sanderson is among the 16 blueliners invited to take part in the event. He has emerged as one of the National Hockey League’s top defencemen and had the chance to suit up for the USA at last February’s 4 Nations Face-Off.

Sanderson will be a candidate for a Norris Trophy someday and after being a late addition to the American roster in February he showed the world why fans of the Senators are so fond of him.

Pinto, 24, who suited up for the Americans at the 2025 IIHF world championships last spring, has put himself on the radar screen. He could be a strong third-line centre in a short tournament, and can play at both ends of the ice.

He will be in for some stiff competition on the Team USA roster, but Pinto has always been the type who isn’t afraid of a challenge. He finished with 21 goals and 37 points in 70 games last season while also contributing a goal and two points in six playoff games.

There will be 24 forwards at the camp, which will be held under the watchful eye of Bill Guerin, the American general manager from the Minnesota Wild, and New York Rangers’ coach Mike Sullivan.

They helped lead Team USA to the final of the 4 Nations Face-Off — which included teams from Finland and Sweden — against Team Canada in February. Canada’s Connor McDavid scored the winner in OT to secure the title on Feb. 29 at the TD Garden in Boston.

Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, Brady’s brother, won’t be on hand at the camp. After winning a second straight Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in the spring, Matthew may be forced to undergo surgery for an adductor injury he played with in the playoffs.

You can expect Brady to be among those expected to provide leadership for the American squad. He, Matthew and J.T. Miller of the Rangers dropped the gloves against Canada on the first two shifts of the 4 Nations Face-Off in Montreal to set the tone.

All of the countries have the green light to do these camps from the NHL and the Players’ Association. There were no members of the Senators invited to Team Canada’s camp that will be held from Aug. 26-to-Aug. 28 in Calgary with 42 players.

That doesn’t mean Tkachuk, Sanderson and Pinto are the only ones on the club’s roster that will have the chance to suit up for their countries.

Centre Tim Stutzle, who has 115 goals, 211 assists and 326 points in 367 career NHL games since being taken No. 3 overall by the Senators in the 2020 draft, is a lock to play for Team Germany.

Goaltender Linus Ullmark, who helped lead the Senators back to the playoffs for the first time in eight years in the spring, should get a call from Team Sweden to be part of their group.

He was part of the goaltending trio at the 4 Nations with New Jersey’s Jacob Markstrom and Filip Gustavsson of the Wild.

Defenceman Nikolas Matinpalo, who put himself on the radar screen as a last-minute addition to the Team Finland roster at the 4 Nations, will certainly get consideration to be part of his country’s roster.

The Americans noted there won’t be any on-ice sessions in Plymouth.

“The two-day gathering is largely an administrative and team-building event and includes no formal on-ice activity or public component,” Team USA said in its news release.

Though fans of the Senators will be happy to see their players have an opportunity to compete on the world stage, they will raise concerns about the possibility of injuries to star players.

Brady came back from the 4 Nations Face-Off with a hip ailment he suffered during the tourney, and then he missed some games later in the season with an undisclosed upper-body injury.

People in Ottawa remember top goaltender Dominik Hasek suffering a mysterious abductor ailment playing for the Czech Republic at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.

Hasek never returned to the net and the Senators lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Buffalo Sabres with the late Ray Emery in net.

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