As part of the NHL’s re-entry into the Olympics with the upcoming games in Beijing this February, the NHL and IIHF collectively announced provisional NHL players for each team, naming three active professionals to each roster.
The plan going forward is for each national team to submit a list of 55 players by 15 October to begin IOC testing, which will then be culled down to a final 23-man roster by January 2022; however, the NHL and IIHF announced that barring any injuries, the players listed below will all make their respective final Olympic rosters.
None of these players should come as a particular shock, as many names on this list (such as Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and Victor Hedman) have already represented their countries well on the international stage. What is more exciting is that with the return of NHLers to the Olympics for the first time since 2014, the Olympic debuts of some of the game’s newest stars will happen in Beijing, for the likes of Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Leon Draisaitl.
The provisional Olympians for eleven participating national teams, not including hosts China, at the 2022 Olympics (with their current team noted in parentheses) are as follows:
| ๐จ๐ฆ CANADA Sidney Crosby, F (Pittsburgh ๐บ๐ธ) Connor McDavid, F (Edmonton ๐จ๐ฆ) Alex Pietrangelo, D (Vegas ๐บ๐ธ) |
๐จ๐ฟย CZECHIA Ondลej Palรกt, Fย (Tampa Bay ๐บ๐ธ) David Pastrลรกk, Fย (Boston ๐บ๐ธ) Jakub Vorรกฤek, F (Columbus ๐บ๐ธ) |
| ๐ฉ๐ฐ DENMARK Oliver Bjorkstrand, F (Columbus ๐บ๐ธ) Nikolaj Ehlers, F (Winnipeg ๐จ๐ฆ) Alexander True, F (San Jose ๐บ๐ธ) |
๐ซ๐ฎ FINLAND Sebastian Aho, F (Carolina ๐บ๐ธ) Alexander Barkov, F (Florida ๐บ๐ธ) Mikko Rantanen, F (Colorado ๐บ๐ธ) |
| ๐ฉ๐ช GERMANY Leon Draisaitl, F (Edmonton ๐จ๐ฆ) Philipp Grubauer, G (Seattle ๐บ๐ธ) Moritz Seider, Dย (Detroit ๐บ๐ธ) |
๐ฑ๐ป LATVIA Rลซdolfs Balcers, F (San Jose ๐บ๐ธ) Zemgus Girgensons, F (Buffalo ๐บ๐ธ) Kristiฤns Rubฤซns, D (Toronto ๐จ๐ฆ) |
| ๐ท๐บ RUSSIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE Nikita Kucherov, F (Tampa Bay ๐บ๐ธ) Alexander Ovechkin, F (Washington ๐บ๐ธ) Andrei Vasilevski, G (Tampa Bay ๐บ๐ธ) |
๐ธ๐ฐ SLOVAKIA Erik ฤernรกk, D (Tampa Bay ๐บ๐ธ) Jaroslav Halรกk, G (Vancouver ๐จ๐ฆ) Andrej Sekera, D (Dallas ๐บ๐ธ) |
| ๐ธ๐ช SWEDEN Victor Hedman, D (Tampa Bay ๐บ๐ธ) Gabriel Landeskog, Fย (Colorado ๐บ๐ธ) Mika Zibanejad, F (NY Rangers ๐บ๐ธ) |
๐จ๐ญ SWITZERLAND Nico Hischier, F (New Jersey ๐บ๐ธ) Roman Josi, D (Nashville ๐บ๐ธ) Timo Meier, Fย (San Jose ๐บ๐ธ) |
| ๐บ๐ธ UNITED STATES Seth Jones, D (Chicago ๐บ๐ธ) Patrick Kane, F (Chicago ๐บ๐ธ) Auston Matthews, F (Toronto ๐จ๐ฆ) |
Looking forward to seeing both the longer and final lists, which will bring us collectively steps closer to Beijing 2022 and the return of the game’s best players to the world’s biggest stage!
International Hockey Lineal Championship 