It’s been a long, long time since NHL players had a chance to compete in the Olympic games — and in that time the international hockey landscape has changed. There’s no longer a mammoth gap between Canada and the field, especially when it comes to Team USA.
The strength for the 2026 side that will compete in Milan comes from its deep forechecking lines, and stellar play in goal. Connor Hellebuyck is having a bit of a down season in 2025-26, but that’s more of a product of the Jets taking a step back this season. He remains the best goalie in the NHL, and can be a huge difference maker on a team with solid defense.
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These are the projected lines for Team USA in 2026.
LW
C
RW
Brady Tkachuk
Jack Eichel
Matthew Tkachuk
Mat Boldy
Auston Matthews
Jake Guentzel
Dylan Larkin
Jack Hughes
Tage Thompson
Clayton Keller
Vincent Trocheck
J.T. Miller
Reserves:
Brock Nelson
Kyle Conner
LD
RD
Quinn Hughes
Charlie McAvoy
Zach Werenski
Seth Jones
Jaccob Slavin
Brock Faber
Reserves:
Jake Sanderson
Noah Hanifin
Goalies
Connor Hellebuyck
Jake Oettinger
Reserve:
Jeremy Swayman
The line to watch will be the No. 2 unit of Boldy/Matthews/Guentzel. It’s a lot of scoring stacked into one unit, which will be defined by how much Matthews can play at his full potential. The big question is whether there’s enough puck to go around for three natural scorers who like to be puck-dominant players.
Team USA is currently at +200 to win the gold medal, narrowly behinds Team Canada at +140.