In February, 20 or so of the best American men’s hockey players were within an overtime goal of gold at the 4 Nations Face-Off, falling to neighborhood rival Canada in the tournament’s title game.

After Team USA rebounded to win the IIHF World Championship two months ago, the focus quickly changed to next February, the 2026 Winter Olympics and the quest for the nation’s first trip to the top of that podium since the 1980 Miracle On Ice.

Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin is putting together the American entry that will compete in Milan and Cortina, Italy, over a few weeks next winter, just as he put together Team USA for the 4 Nations. On Monday, Guerin joined the GMs from several other countries in announcing the initial six players on their teams.

For Team USA, they are forwards Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights), Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs), Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators) and Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers), and defensemen Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks) and Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins).

“You look at the hockey sense and the ability to play in tight games and tight areas,” Guerin said in a Zoom call with reporters. “You look back on the 4 Nations tournament, and the one thing we all took away is there’s just no room out there. You have to be able to play in tight hockey games. You have to be highly competitive, and I think these six players represent that.”Guerin admitted that he has “quite a few” additional players already on his list for the team, but followed suit with nations such Canada, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia and Latvia in only revealing the initial half-dozen. And while the goal is to upgrade that silver medal from 4 Nations to the Olympic gold, Guerin said this will be a different team by the time the Opening Ceremonies commence on Feb. 6, 2026.

“Honestly, we can’t really run it back with the same team,” he said. “We’ve got to see who (are) playing well. We were missing a few guys. Other guys are going to play their way onto the team. We had a bunch of guys that showed up for the World Championship team and produced our first gold medal in 90-something years. There are guys that have put themselves in a much better spot because of that. So we really have to start from scratch again and rebuild the team.”

It was noted that despite Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck backstopping the 4 Nations team, and recently being named the NHL’s most valuable player and top goalie for the 2024-25 regular season, Guerin did not name a goaltender among the initial six roster spots.

“I figured it was best that we stay consistent and let the goalies play it out throughout the season,” Guerin said. Among those who have projected the final Team USA roster, Hellebuyck and Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger of Lakeville are widely expected to be the two primary netminders, with others such as Boston’s Jeremy Swayman and Calgary’s Dustin Wolf expected to be in the mix for the third spot.

Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber, the former Gopher from Maple Grove, skated for Team USA in the 2022 Olympics in China, when NHL players did not participate, and is expected to be a member of the 2026 team.

The Team USA news comes at what may be the best of times for American hockey on the international stage, with the American men and women claiming World Championship gold last spring, the Americans winning a second consecutive World Juniors in January, and the American sled hockey team winning a world title recently.

St. Paul and Minneapolis will host the 2026 World Juniors starting in late December as the Americans look to three-peat.

The 2026 Winter Games will be the first since 2014 to involve active NHL players, with the league taking a break to send the world’s best to Italy for the Olympics — although Russia is still banned from international competition due to its ongoing war with Ukraine.

“It’s great that the NHL players are back in the Olympics,” said Guerin, who skated for Team USA in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 Winter Games. “Obviously, it’s the biggest sports stage in the world, and we’re all really happy that we’re back involved. … There’s nothing bigger and better than being able to represent your country.”

The full Team USA roster is expected to be announced in January.