Auston Matthews leads USA Olympic men's hockey team's first six players for 2026
Auston Matthews, brothers Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes, Jack Eichel and Charlie McAvoy are the first six players named to the 2026 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team.
The core six, all age 28 and younger, will hope to lead the U.S. to its first Olympic men's hockey title since the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.
It will be the Olympic debut for all six. The Milan Cortina Games mark the first Olympics with NHL participation since 2014. The rest of the 25-man Olympic roster will be named closer to the Games, which open Feb. 6.
Nick Zaccardi,
Below is a glimpse into each of the first six players.
Quinn Hughes, Defenseman, Vancouver Canucks
Taught to skate by his mom, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, who was on the first U.S. soccer roster to play in a FIFA women's national team tournament. She also played for the U.S. national hockey team before women's hockey was added to the Olympics in 1998. Going back to soccer, she was an ESPN sideline reporter for the 1999 Women's World Cup.
Quinn, 25, is the 2024 Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's top defenseman and the oldest of three brothers who could all make the Olympic team. Jack, 24, is a New Jersey Devils forward who was on the 4 Nations Face-Off roster that is expected to closely resemble the Olympic team. Luke, 21, is a Devils defenseman who made the All-Rookie team in 2023-24. They shared the EA Sports NHL 25 video game cover.
Once in history have three brothers played for one Olympic hockey team — Anton, Marian and Peter Stastny for Czechoslovakia in 1980. Once in history have three brothers competed on the same U.S. Winter Olympic team in any sport: bobsledders Curtis, Hubert and Paul Stevens in 1932, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon.
Charlie McAvoy, Defenseman, Boston Bruins
Born and raised on Long Island, New York, and started skating at age 3 in an arena where his dad, of McAvoy Plumbing & Heating, had installed a studio rink. Young Charlie got his hands dirty, too, digging trenches for sewer mains and washing dishes and taking out the garbage at Brand's Delicatessen, according to the Athletic.
McAvoy is a already a world champion on the U18 and U20 levels. Now 27, he hasn't played since contracting a staph infection in his right shoulder during the 4 Nations Face-Off.
U.S. Olympic head coach Mike Sullivan is McAvoy's father-in-law.
Jack Eichel, Forward, Vegas Golden Knights
Eichel was an 18-year-old Boston Terrier when Miracle on Ice captain Mike Eruzione called him 'the face of USA Hockey,' according to Sports Illustrated.
Since, he became the second freshman to be named NCAA Player of the Year, was a No. 2 overall NHL Draft pick (behind Connor McDavid) and played in every major international tournament — world juniors, senior worlds, the World Cup, 4 Nations — except the Olympics.
Eichel did play in the first Youth Olympics in 2012 as the youngest player on the team. A male Youth Olympic hockey player has yet to play at the Olympics.
Auston Matthews, Forward, Toronto Maple Leafs
The most prolific American goal scorer in NHL history on a per-game basis.
The Arizona native was actually named to the 2022 Olympic team — as one of the first three players along with Patrick Kane and Seth Jones — in October 2021. But the NHL withdrew two months later, needing the Olympic break back to help make up for the 50 canceled regular season games up to that point due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Matthews, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2016, scored four goals in his regular season debut (three in the first 22 minutes). He has made every All-Star Game since. In 2023-24, he scored 69 goals, the most by any player since 1995-96, when Mario Lemieux also scored 69.
Brady Tkachuk, Forward, Ottawa Senators
Matthew Tkachuk, Forward, Florida Panthers
The first set of brothers to make a U.S. Olympic hockey team since Derian and Kevin Hatcher in 1998 (the Hughes brothers could join them later).
The Tkachuk family will also be the first to have two generations on U.S. Olympic hockey teams in the NHL participation era. Dad Keith Tkachuk played at the 1992 Albertville Games, and then the first three Olympics with NHL players in 1998, 2002 and 2006. He still holds the U.S. record for Olympic games played (23).
Brady and Matthew became USA Hockey's Bash Brothers at 4 Nations, where they shared a line with Eichel. Through a pregame group text, the brothers orchestrated separate fights with Canadians at the start of their round-robin game. The resulting notoriety led to appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Matthew) and the Kelce brothers' podcast (Brady and Matthew).
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