The Ottawa Senators will be sending a full starting lineup — three forwards, two defencemen and one goalie — to compete at the Winter Games.

With NHL players back in the Olympics for the first time since 2014, it will be a brand new experience for all six Ottawa players.

Two Americans, two Danes, one Finn and a German will trade their Sens jerseys for their country’s colours when the men’s tournament gets underway on Wednesday.

Here’s a closer look at each of the Olympic-bound Senators, and what they’ll bring to their national teams.

Tim Stutzle (Germany)

The ultra-talented 24-year-old forward will help lead Germany’s best team ever assembled.

Alongside Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers) and Moritz Seider (Detroit Red Wings), Stutzle has aided in ushering a new era of relevance for Team Germany on the biggest international hockey stage.

However, Stutzle will need to put on a performance similar to his 2021 world junior championship coming out party, for which he was named the tournament’s top player after carting 10 points in five games, if Germany is to sniff a chance at a medal.

Five years after that WJC honour, Stutzle has grown into a remarkably well-rounded NHLer. Of course, he still dazzles offensively with his speed, edge work and silky mitts, but Stutzle is now extremely committed defensively, and one of the better Ottawa penalty killers.

Expect him to play a ton of minutes, maybe north of 27 per game, at all strengths for Germany.

Here’s when you can catch Stutzle in action during the preliminary round (all times ET):

Germany vs. Denmark — Thursday, Feb. 12 at 3:10 p.m. (TSN)

Germany vs. Latvia — Saturday, Feb. 14 at 6:10 a.m. (TSN)

USA vs. Germany — Sunday, Feb. 15 at 3:10 p.m. (TSN, CBC)

Brady Tkachuk (USA)

Tkachuk has been dreaming about an opportunity like this for a long time.

The Sens captain played like a monster for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February, scoring three goals and throwing his body around as if each game was his last.

He and older brother Matthew talk about the Olympics ad nauseam on their Wingmen podcast, inspired by their father Keith’s international success, and driven by their unflinching love for the red, white and blue.

Tkachuk, who has 36 points in 36 games for the Senators this season, will undoubtedly play his heart out for his country. The 26-year-old’s patented wrecking-ball mentality has been missing many nights since he came back from thumb surgery in late November, but it could very well be on display every shift in Italy.

Jake Sanderson (USA)

One of the best defencemen in the world, Sanderson will still have to fight for his ice time at the Olympics.

Team USA is bringing a star-studded D corps — including Quinn Hughes (Minnesota Wild), Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets) and shutdown specialist Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes) — that might be the best in the tournament.

Sanderson has somehow elevated his game to yet another level this season. He has 46 points in 56 games, leads the Senators with 108 blocks and deserves to be mentioned in the Norris Trophy debate.

Team USA general manager Bill Guerin intentionally built his squad with the Canadians in mind, after losing to the northern neighbour in the final of the 4 Nations Face-Off last year.

Sanderson was one of the best Americans in that championship game, scoring the 2-1 goal and recording five blocks. Just last week, he proved he could completely silence Canadian forward Nathan MacKinnon, holding him to zero points and one shot in over 18 minutes at even strength in a 5-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche.

Here’s when you can catch Tkachuk and Sanderson in action during the preliminary round:

Latvia vs. USA — Thursday, Feb. 12 at 3:10 p.m. (SN, CBC)

USA vs. Denmark — Saturday, Feb. 14 at 3:10 p.m. (TSN)

USA vs. Germany — Sunday, Feb. 15 at 3:10 p.m. (TSN, CBC)

Nikolas Matinpalo (Finland)

Matinpalo must be champing at the bit to get to Italy.

Indeed, it’s potentially a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it could also be his best chance to simply play in an actual hockey game.

The 27-year-old stay-at-home defenceman has dressed for just two NHL games in the new year due to coach Travis Green making him a healthy scratch most nights.

Matinpalo should be able to crack the bottom pair for a game or two. The team’s top four is rather set in stone — Miro Heiskanen (Dallas Stars), Rasmus Ristolainen (Philadelphia Flyers), Esa Lindell and Niko Mikkola (Florida Panthers) will play every game — but after that, it’s rather wide open.

Here’s when you can catch Matinpalo in action during the preliminary round:

Slovakia vs. Finland — Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 10:40 a.m. (TSN, CBC)

Finland vs. Sweden — Friday, Feb. 13 at 6:10 a.m. (TSN)

Finland vs. Italy — Saturday, Feb. 14 at 10:40 a.m. (SN, CBC)

Lars Eller (Denmark)

Eller, the first player from Denmark to win the Stanley Cup in 2018 with the Washington Capitals, is the most experienced player on the Danish squad.

The 36-year-old has played 1,159 games across 17 NHL seasons.

Depending on whether the coaching staff will opt to spread the talent out amongst the forward group or jam it all in on one line, it’s entirely possible that Eller could play centre on the top trio between Nikolaj Ehlers (Carolina Hurricanes) and Oliver Bjorkstrand (Seattle Kraken).

It’s Denmark’s second time competing in men’s hockey at the Winter Olympics — they finished seventh in Beijing in 2022 — and first-ever admission into a best-on-best tournament.

Mads Sogaard (Denmark)

They call him the Great Dane.

A slender, 6-foot-7 netminder, Sogaard will be in a three-way battle for the crease with Frederik Andersen (Hurricanes) and Frederik Dichow, who plays in the Swedish Hockey League.

It’s not out of the question that Sogaard could start a game at the Olympics. Andersen has an .871 save percentage this season and his most recent NHL appearance was a 7-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 25. He made 20 saves for the Senators that night, before returning to Belleville of the American Hockey League a couple days later.

Here’s when you can catch Eller and Sogaard in action during the preliminary round:

Germany vs. Denmark — Thursday, Feb. 12 at 3:10 p.m. (TSN)

USA vs. Denmark — Saturday, Feb. 14 at 3:10 p.m. (TSN)

Denmark vs. Latvia — Sunday, Feb. 15 at 1:10 p.m. (not televised in Canada)

Team Canada’s Schedule

The Canadians have won three of the past four best-on-best Olympic tournaments (2002, 2010 and 2014).

The forwards corps — led by Connor McDavid (Oilers), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) and the aforementioned MacKinnon — is phenomenal.

The defence — headlined by an all-Avalanche top pairing of Cale Makar and Devon Toews — is as sturdy as they come.

The biggest question mark, for a second year in a row, will be goaltending.

Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues) is largely expected to start Game 1, despite owning a downright putrid .866 save percentage in the NHL this season. But he has a tendency to get up for the big games and he arguably was Canada’s MVP in the 4 Nations finale last February.

Here’s when you can catch Team Canada during the preliminary round:

Czechia vs. Canada — Thursday, Feb. 12 at 10:40 a.m. (CBC)

Canada vs. Switzerland — Friday, Feb. 13 at 3:10 p.m. (CBC)

Canada vs. France — Sunday, Feb. 15 at 10:40 a.m. (CBC)

When is the gold medal game?

The medal round gets underway on Wednesday, Feb. 18 with four quarterfinal matchups beginning between 6:10 a.m. and 3:10 p.m.

Related

Friday, Feb. 20, will feature both semifinal games, one at 10:40 a.m. and the other at 3:10 p.m.

The bronze-medal game is Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2:40 p.m.

And the gold-medal game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 8:10 a.m.

Don’t stay out too late the night before.