NHL Winter Olympics all-time roster for Unites States inspired by 'Miracle on Ice'

NHL players will make a much-anticipated return at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

For the first time since 2014 in Sochi, the best hockey players in the world will be back on the biggest international stage, with 12 countries vying for the gold medal.

NHL players first went to the Winter Olympics in 1998 (Nagano), and returned in 2002 (Salt Lake City), 2006 (Turin), 2010 (Vancouver) and 2014.

Each of those Olympics featured incredible players, but what if the countries had to trim all the NHL players from those five Olympics into one team?

That's what NHL.com has done, putting together all-time Olympic rosters of NHL players for select countries.

Today, NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen and columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika present their all-time roster for Team USA:

Explore NHL.com's Coverage of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026

FORWARDS (14)

Tony Amonte
David Backes
Bill Guerin
Brett Hull
Patrick Kane
Phil Kessel
John LeClair
Mike Modano
T.J. Oshie
Zach Parise
Joe Pavelski
Jeremy Roenick
Keith Tkachuk
James van Riemsdyk

The core of the post-1980 “Miracle on Ice” generation of USA Hockey stars is in this forward group with Amonte, Guerin, Hull, LeClair, Modano, Roenick and Tkachuk. Each played in multiple Olympics. Together they brought the U.S. back to international prominence in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and were the best forwards at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, when the U.S. took home the silver after losing 5-2 to Canada in the gold-medal game. Hull had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 10 Olympic games between 1998 and 2002. Guerin played in 1998, 2002 and 2006, and had eight points, including four goals in 2002. Modano also played in three Olympics; he had six assists in 2002, when LeClair led the U.S. with six goals. Tkachuk was the dominant power forward in 1998, 2002 and 2006. Amonte had four points (two goals, two assists) and Roenick had five (one goal, four assists) in 2002. The next generation came along in 2010 led up front by Backes, Kane, Kessel, Parise and Pavelski. They were the dominant forwards on the 2010 Olympic team that also lost to Canada in the gold-medal game in overtime after Parise's game-tying goal in the last minute of regulation. Parise had eight points, including four goals; Kane had three goals. In 2014, they were joined by Oshie and van Riemsdyk. Kessel was named the best forward with eight points, including five goals. Van Riemsdyk had seven points, including a team-high six assists. Backes had three goals. Kane had four assists. Oshie starred in the shootout win against Russia, earning the nickname "T.J. Sochi." There were many debates about where Pat LaFontaine fits, but he was left off because he only played in the Olympics once with NHL players, in 1998, when he had one goal in four games. Doug Weight played in three Olympics but did not score a goal. -- Rosen

DEFENSEMEN (7)

John Carlson
Chris Chelios
Phil Housley
Erik Johnson
Brian Leetch
Brian Rafalski
Ryan Suter

Chelios, Housley and Leetch are each in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Chelios won the Norris Trophy, voted the NHL’s best defenseman, three times. Leetch won it twice. Housley (1,232), Leetch (1,028) and Chelios (948) are first, second and third in points, respectively, among U.S. defensemen in NHL history. Carlson (747) is fifth, and Suter (696) is ninth. Leetch, Chelios and Housley helped the United States win silver in 2002; Johnson and Suter helped the U.S. do it in 2010. Rafalski was part of each of those teams. Chelios was named the best defenseman of the 2002 tournament. Rafalski was named best defenseman in 2010, when he had eight points (four goals, four assists) in six games, first among defensemen and tied for third among skaters. -- Cotsonika

GOALIES (2)

Ryan Miller
Mike Richter

Only two men have been a No. 1 goalie on medal-winning teams for the U.S. in the NHL era. Richter won silver in 2002, and Miller did it in 2010. Richter, who won the Stanley Cup for the New York Rangers in 1994 and the World Cup of Hockey for the U.S. in 1996, had a 2.25 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in 2002. Miller was named the best goaltender and the most valuable player of the tournament in 2010, when he had a 1.35 goals-against average and .946 save percentage. -- Cotsonika