With Olympics on horizon, NHL coaches, players balancing regular season, preparation for Games

The moment is coming fast.

It has been 12 years since NHL players last participated in the Olympics, in Sochi in 2014, and now the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 is less than a month away.

For many coaches and players, this will be their first Olympic experience, something they've anticipated their entire lives. Now that the rosters have been announced, you might think they're communicating a lot behind the scenes of the NHL season with so much on the line and so little time to prepare.

But Canada and the United States -- the two teams led by NHL coaches with full NHL rosters -- are not talking much, at least not yet.

And in a way, that says a lot.

It speaks to the importance of the 4 Nations Face-Off last season, the competitiveness of the NHL season, the need to hit the ground running in Milan and the value of chemistry.

"I don't think there's much time to talk about it," said Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin, who will play for Team USA. "Probably the couple weeks before we get over there, I feel like it'll pick up a little bit more. But for now, it's just been all logistics stuff. I think it'll pick up more. But right now, I think guys are so focused on their [NHL] team, their season that's going on."

Before the 4 Nations Face-Off last season, NHL players hadn't participated in a best-on-best tournament since the World Cup of Hockey 2016 in Toronto. The coaches and the cores of each team hadn't worked together before.

Canada coach Jon Cooper and U.S. coach Mike Sullivan often would ask for permission from opposing NHL coaches to speak to players when they crossed paths leading up to the tournament. Mostly, they wanted to get to know each other.

Well, now that tournament has been played. Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in overtime in the final in Boston on Feb. 20.

Each team held an Olympic orientation camp before the season -- Canada in Calgary, the United States in the Detroit area. On the 25-man Olympic rosters, Canada has 19 players who were at 4 Nations. The U.S. has 21.

"[Before] 4 Nations, I would contact all the coaches prior and say, 'Hey, you mind if I speak with your guys?'" Cooper said. "And every one of them was super gracious. But now it's different. Now I know these guys, I've coached these guys, so text messages, phone calls, they just happen."

Cooper said he met with San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini, who didn't play at 4 Nations, when Tampa Bay visited San Jose on Jan. 3.

He made these comments Jan. 6 before the Lightning played the Colorado Avalanche, who have three players who represented Canada at 4 Nations and are going to the Olympics -- center Nathan MacKinnon and defensemen Cale Makar and Devon Toews.

"Like, I'd have no problem walking out of this press conference right down the hall into their locker room -- well, maybe not in the locker room, but really close," he said with a laugh. "There's such a good relationship with the coaches, especially in our league. Guys are open, and I'm sure 'Sully' is doing the same thing."

Not yet. But he will soon.

"Leading up to the 4 Nations tournament, we spent a lot of time with guys," said Sullivan, who coached the Pittsburgh Penguins last season and leads the New York Rangers now. "Not so much with this Olympic experience. … I anticipate having conversations here moving forward. I plan on trying to talk to a lot of guys."

Sullivan said the U.S. coaches have put together a game plan on how they're going to communicate with the players closer to the tournament.

"There will be time when we actually get there also," Sullivan said. "I believe we have four days before our first game, which will give us a real good opportunity to spend some time face to face with guys, define roles, define expectations, build an identity, all those things."

Canada and the United States each will practice in Milan Feb. 8-11, then play Feb. 12. Canada will face Czechia; the U.S. will face Latvia.

"Do I know the extent to how much the players reach out to each other? I don't," Cooper said. "But I know there's probably group chats already started, and guys are reaching out and [asking] questions. I was with Macklin a couple days ago. We met, and everybody is super pumped about this.

"It's the infancy stages of it. As we get going on now, a little more focus will be on how we play and what we're going to do, and I'm sure there will be a lot more communication that way."

Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin said he spoke to Sullivan after an NHL game leading up to 4 Nations last season, but he hasn't spoken to Sullivan since the U.S. Olympic roster was announced and hasn't even looked at the schedule to see if there will be an opportunity to do so. There isn't as much of a need now.

"With the 4 Nations, we have our foundation, and we know how we're going to play," Larkin said. "It was a great experience to be together and know what to expect at the Olympics. But I talk to a lot of the guys, and everyone's really excited, and so am I."

NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen contributed to this report