Zizing 'Em Up: Olympic roster reveals coming for Milano Cortina

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger has been covering the NHL regularly since 1999. Each Monday he will use his extensive network of hockey contacts for his weekly notes column, “Zizing 'Em Up,” to preview the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

TORONTO -- The waiting game is almost over.

Rosters for the 12 teams competing in the men’s hockey competition at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will start being unveiled in the coming days.

Those announcements will end months of anticipation, guessing and debates over who should be included and who could be overlooked.

And it’s not just the media and fans who are champing at the bit to find out. Some of the game’s elite players are just as intrigued.

“It’s super exciting,” Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid said.

“It’s the excitement of knowing who you’re going to be going to battle with in Italy for two or three weeks,” Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk added.

McDavid and Tkachuk know they’ll be part of the tournament, health permitting, after being named to their country’s preliminary rosters in June, McDavid by Team Canada, Tkachuk by Team USA. No fretting here.

The same can’t be said for candidates like Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson, who can only hope that his name is called.

“It’s definitely in the back of your mind,” he said. “It makes you ask: 'What’s going to happen?'”

What indeed?

FOES BECOMING FRIENDS: OLY STYLE

The Battle of Ontario between Brady Tkachuk’s Senators and Auston Matthews’ Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday was a prime example of how bitter foes will become friends and teammates in Italy.

Matthews led the way for Toronto with three points (one goal, two assists) in the Maple Leafs’ wild 7-5 victory at Scotiabank Arena. As for Tkachuk, he was his usual feisty self, racking up an assist and two penalty minutes, dishing out five hits and being the centerpiece in numerous scrums.

In six weeks, however, they’ll be playing on the same side, with the same goal of a gold medal, for Team USA, reuniting for the first time since the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.

“He’s a big heavy body,” Matthews said of Tkachuk. “Obviously he plays with an edge. And he’s always around the net. So he’s definitely a guy you need to keep an eye on when he’s out there.

“He’s a competitor. He plays with a lot of physicality. He’s tough to get a hold of.”

Which is why it will be much more enjoyable to be on his side at the Olympics, much like it was at 4 Nations.

“It was great,” Matthews said. “I’m obviously looking forward to that. He’s a great player. We go back a long time. So it’s always fun to get together with guys you’ve known for a while, that you played junior with, or got to know at a young age.

“And to play at that level (with them) is very special.”

BRADY, MATTHEW & TEAM USA’S LEGACY

Team USA received some welcome news on Sunday when Matthew Tkachuk, Brady’s older brother, practiced with the Florida Panthers for the first time this season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia on Aug. 22.

While his participation in the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic at loanDepot park in Miami on Friday (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SNW, SNO, SNE, TVAS) remains in doubt, the fact that the forward was back on the ice with his teammates bodes well for his healthy inclusion in Italy. Keep in mind that Matthew and Brady were each one of the first six players named to the preliminary roster back in June.

In the process, each understands the relevance that a gold medal in Italy would have concerning the legacy of USA Hockey. Much of that comes from the family relationship with 1980 U.S. gold medal hero Mike Eruzione, who lived one town away from where Keith Tkachuk, their dad, grew up.

“Mike told our team at 4 Nations that their generation inspired my dad’s era, and that the U.S. win at the 1996 World Cup inspired our era, and that we have an opportunity to inspire an entirely new era,” Brady told NHL.com. “So that’s something that’s always in the back of our minds, that we could grow the game and create those future superstars who will be watching and falling in love with the sport and wanting to be a Team USA hockey player one day.

“To have the opportunity to do that -- and to do it playing with my brother -- is amazing.”

WILL HE OR WON’T HE?

Brady Tkachuk says he has “no sway” with who gets selected to fill out the Team USA roster. At the same time, he’d love to be joined by his Ottawa teammate Sanderson, as he was at 4 Nations.

Sanderson made the most of his two appearances in that tournament, including a goal in the title game against Canada. Brady scored the other Team USA goal in the 3-2 overtime loss.

“You know, just to sit on the bench at 4 Nations and take it all in was so valuable,” the Senators defenseman said. “And then, to get into a couple of games, it gives you confidence that you can play at that level.

“To score a goal in that final game was good and all that, but we still lost. And that’s a bummer. But it also builds the fire within you for the Olympics, if you are privileged to be picked, and other best-on-best tournaments to come.”

The 23-year-old has 26 points (seven goals, 19 assists) in 37 games with the Senators this season.

IN SID HE TRUSTS

While Team Canada has not yet officially named a captain, McDavid reiterated this weekend that Sidney Crosby should be the only choice, let alone the favorite.

The Oilers forward, who first publicly made his stance known back in October, rejects the notion that anyone else should be in consideration, even though he and Team Canada teammate Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche are the two leading scorers in the NHL right now. McDavid tops the League with 68 points (24 goals, 44 assists) and MacKinnon is next with 64 (31 goals, 33 assists).

“Absolutely Sidney is the captain,” McDavid told Scott Oake and Kelly Hrudey on Hockey Night in Canada’s After Hours on Saturday. “It’s not a question. It’s for the career he's had, the moments he's had. He’s been there. He’s experienced everything. Just his calm presence. He's the leader in the room. And there's no doubt about that.

“But the great thing about this group is that so many guys can lead, are leaders on their own team, and are comfortable speaking up. They’re comfortable owning the moment. We saw that last year at the 4 Nations (Face-Off). You know, the room is great.”

Crosby, who's earned the nickname Captain Canada north of the border here, has worn the "C" for Canada at numerous events on the international stage including the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, and at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

OLYMPICS STOCK WATCH

Each week we’ll look at a candidate who’s catching our attention in the push to make his respective national team.

Macklin Celebrini, F, Canada (San Jose Sharks)

Yes, he’s been listed here before. Yes, there’s already been plenty of hype about the 19-year-old’s chances to make Team Canada over the past few months. And with good reason. After all, is there a more intriguing aspect to Canada’s team reveal Wednesday than discovering if Celebrini will be going to Italy? How can there be? In the meantime, the debate and accompanying white noise surrounding his potential Olympic inclusion certainly has not affected his performance with the Sharks. Anything but. Consider that Celebrini scored his 20th goal of the season and added an assist in San Jose’s 6-3 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, running his point streak to seven games. In that span he’s had 14 points (five goals, nine assists), all the while serving notice that he deserves strong consideration for Team Canada.

QUOTE/UNQUOTE

“We had a really fun time doing it. We did it at Olympic orientation camp. And other people at USA Hockey were excited because NBC hasn’t really done that too much in the past, hyping up the Olympics and, specifically, hockey, so far in advance. So it was a privilege and honor to be a part of.” -- Brady Tkachuk, about being part of the NBC Olympic hockey promo featuring Emmy award-winning actor Jon Hamm. When Hamm tells a group of Team USA players that “You’re going to Milan to bring home the biggest prize of all,” Jack Eichel replies “Canadian tears.” When Hamm asks what Canada did to earn that response, Brady replies “stuff,” referring to the three fights that took place in the first nine seconds between Canada and Team USA in their round robin game at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February

THE LAST WORD

One of the biggest questions involving the impending roster reveals relates to Team Sweden’s goaltending situation.

On Sunday, the Senators announced that Linus Ullmark would be taking a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons.

Without prying into the issue, which is Ullmark’s private business, will it affect how Team Sweden looks at its goaltending situation? For that matter, will it affect Ullmark’s availability for Italy?

At one time, the frontrunners for the three available spots were Ullmark, Jacob Markstrom and Filip Gustavsson.

Now Ullmark is in flux. And Markstrom has struggled with the New Jersey Devils this season, going 9-8-1 with a 3.33 goals-against average and .883 save percentage.

Perhaps the dark horse in this race will be Jesper Wallstedt, Gustavsson’s teammate with the Minnesota Wild who is 11-2-2 with a 2.16 GAA and .931 save percentage.

We’ll find out soon enough.