International best-on-best hockey will return at the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face Off.

But that’s just the appetizer for the main course in 2026.

For the first time since the 2014 Winter Olympics, the NHL will send its players to Milan, Italy, to vie for the gold.

And while the 4 Nations Face Off will only include the USA, Canada, Sweden and Finland, the Olympics will have a wider range of countries represented, including Czechia, the recent winners of the IIHF World Championships.

And with the Opening Ceremonies for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris happening on Friday, the B/R NHL staff consisting of Adam Gretz and Joe Yerdon decided to come together to project the rosters for the top six teams that could be playing in Italy.

We are including Russia in this exercise, but Russian athletes are currently banned from competing for their country and can only participate under a neutral banner. The IIHF has also banned Russia from international competition for the 2024-25 calendar year and there are no guarantees Russian athletes will be able to participate in 2026 due to the war in Ukraine.

Do you have any disagreements with our choices? Submit them now in the comments section of the B/R app!