The 12 countries participating in men’s hockey at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 are naming the first six players to their preliminary rosters Monday.
The men’s tournament will start with preliminary games Feb. 11, with the gold medal game scheduled for Feb. 22.
The remainder of the rosters will be announced later this year.
This is the first time NHL players will participate in the Olympics since 2014.
Here are the first six players on Team Canada’s preliminary roster (listed in alphabetical order):
The 37-year-old center has won all there is to win in the NHL and the international level. Crosby is a three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2009, 2016, 2017) and two-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (2015, 2016). He’s also won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP twice, the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the leading goal-scorer twice and the Ted Lindsay Award voted most outstanding player by the NHL Players’ Association three times. The No. 1 pick by Pittsburgh at the 2005 NHL Draft, Crosby is ninth all-time with 1,687 points (625 goals, 1,062 assists) in 1,352 games over 20 seasons with the Penguins. Internationally, the native of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, has won six competitions with Canada; two in the Olympics (2010, 2014), and one each at the World Junior Championship (2005), World Championship (2015), World Cup of Hockey (2016) and 4 Nations Face-Off (2025). Crosby has served as captain in each of his past four tournament victories for Canada on the international stage.
A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, MacKinnon has had more than 110 points each of the past three seasons, including 140 (51 goals, 89 assists) in 82 games for the Colorado Avalanche in 2023-24. The 29-year-old center followed that up with 116 points (32 goals, 84 assists) in 79 games this season. He has 1,015 points (367 goals, 648 assists) in 870 games and ranks fifth all-time in points per game in the playoffs (1.32). MacKinnon won the Calder as NHL rookie of the year in 2013-14, the Stanley Cup in 2022 and the Hart and Ted Lindsay last season. The No. 1 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft had four goals at the 4 Nations Face-Off and was named tournament MVP. He won gold as teammates with Crosby at the 2015 Worlds.
Cale Makar, D
The defenseman won the Norris Trophy as the League’s best defenseman for the second time after he had 92 points (30 goals, 62 assists) in 80 games this season for the Avalanche, setting career bests in goals, points and power-play goals (12). Makar also won the Calder in 2019-20, and was Conn Smythe winner in 2022 when he helped Colorado win the Stanley Cup. Since entering the League, the Calgary native leads all defensemen in goals (116) and points (428) in 395 games. The 26-year-old won at the 2018 World Juniors with Canada and the 4 Nations Face-Off earlier this season.
Since arriving in the NHL 10 years ago, no one has been more productive than McDavid, who leads the League over the past decade in points (1,082), more than 100 than the next closest, Edmonton Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl (947). The No. 1 pick at the 2015 NHL Draft, McDavid has topped 100 points in seven of the past eight seasons, including 153 in 2022-23 when he had a career-high 64 goals. McDavid, who had 100 points this season (26 goals, 74 assists) in 67 games, has won the Art Ross five times, the Ted Lindsay four times, the Hart three times, and the Richard Trophy once. The 28-year-old center from Richmond Hill, Ontario, also won the Conn Smythe in 2024, his 42 points the fourth-most in a single postseason, becoming the sixth player on the losing team to win the trophy. He won gold at the 2015 World Juniors, the 2016 Worlds and scored the winning goal for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off earlier this season.
Another Calgary native, Point has scored at least 40 goals each of the past three seasons. He had 42 goals and 82 points in 77 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning this season. Point set career bests of 51 goals and 95 points in 2022-23. The 29-year-old center has 635 points (306 goals, 329 assists) in 657 games and led the playoffs in goals in 2020 and 2021, scoring 14 in each to help the Lightning win the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons. He won gold at the 2015 World Juniors, the 4 Nations Face-Off earlier this season and silver at the 2017 Worlds. Point was also MVP of the 2013 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup when he had four points in five games to help Canada win gold.
Sam Reinhart, F
Reinhart, who hails from West Vancouver, British Columbia, has scored at least 20 goals in each of the past eight seasons, including a career-high 57 to go along with 94 points for the Florida Panthers in 2023-24. That same season, he had 16 points, including 10 goals, to help them win the Stanley Cup for the first time. The 29-year-old had 81 points (39 goals, 42 assists) in 79 games this season and has 619 points (294 goals, 325 assists) in 775 regular-season games for the Panthers and Buffalo Sabres. Reinhart has won gold at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup (2012), Under-18 World Junior Championship (2013), World Junior Championship (2015) and World Championship (2016). He also helped Canada win the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.
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