Camp Notebook | Thompson and Tuch’s Olympic aspirations

With regular season hockey about to begin in Buffalo, three of the Sabres’ top players also have their eyes on February and the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which will feature NHL talent for the first time since 2014.

Rasmus Dahlin was already named, in June, as one of the first six players on Sweden’s Olympic roster. This will mark the second Olympic experience for the Lidkoping native, who appeared in two games in Pyeongchang in 2018 – just months before becoming the Sabres’ first-overall draft pick. Buffalo’s captain also pulled his weight in the 4 Nations Face-Off this past February.

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Alternate captains Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch, meanwhile, were invited to the U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey Orientation Camp in Plymouth, Mich., in August, alongside 22 other top American forwards.

In the wake of that experience, and with the complete U.S. roster expected to be announced in early January, Thompson and Tuch arrived at training camp itching for a shot at best-on-best international competition.

Here are their thoughts on the subject and where they stand among American Olympic hopefuls.

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Tage Thompson

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said Thompson arrived at training camp “incredibly focused” after establishing himself as a stars-and-stripes star at the 2025 IIHF World Championship. His third trip to that tournament (also 2018, 2021) was by far his best, as he collected nine points (6+3) in 10 games – including the gold medal-winning goal in overtime versus Switzerland. The U.S. had last won a World Championship in 1933.

“It's exactly what you dream up as a kid, practicing in the driveway or whatever,” Thompson said. “I want to be one of the guys that the team leans on to try to win and get things done.

“… Wearing your country's colors is always an honor, and we were able to achieve something that wasn't done in a very long time: win gold. It was 92 years since it's been done, so it was a very big deal for us.”

The Phoenix, Ariz., native was excluded from the 4 Nations Face-Off roster, which was announced last Dec. 4; entering that day, his 13 goals were tied for second most among Americans. Thompson was summoned as an emergency replacement before the championship game but could only watch the 3-2 overtime loss to Canada from the TD Garden press box.

“It was a big goal of mine to make 4 Nations,” Thompson said. “Didn't happen, but I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I think because of not making it, maybe it helps the second half of the season, and going into Worlds just kind of gave me that extra little bit of fire. … I just looked at it as a test for me.”

He’s passed the test to this point, scorching opponents with an NHL-leading 18 goals after the February break, finishing the season with 44 and carrying that momentum into his heroic World Championship performance. And he’s predictably dominated the preseason so far with three goals in two games.

"We had a bunch of guys show up for the World Championship team and produce our first gold there in 90-something years, guys who have put themselves in a much better spot because of that," Team USA general manager Bill Guerin said in June. "We have to start from scratch again and rebuild the team."

Since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, Thompson’s 158 goals trail only Auston Matthews (202) on the American leaderboard, and he’s one of eight active Americans with multiple 40-goal campaigns. He’s confident that continued production, while of course helping the Sabres, will earn him a trip to Italy.

“My priority is just to help our team win, and I feel like if I’m doing that, that kind of thing takes care of itself,” Thompson said. “I feel like I’m a good enough player to be selected for that team if I do the things I know I’m capable of.”

Alex Tuch

For the Syracuse-born Tuch, who last represented his country during a five-goal showing at the 2023 World Championship, Olympic Orientation Camp offered a blueprint for best-on-best success.

“There was some definitely serious talks about what we need to do – if you’re on that team – what you need to do to help bring back a gold medal,” Tuch said. “You see all these guys and how seriously they take it. There’s Stanley Cup winners, there’s future Hall of Famers in there, and you just take little bits and pieces from them and just see how they are and see how they carry themselves.

“Just to be a part of that group really meant a lot to me, but that’s definitely not the end goal.”

If Team USA intends to balance its lineup with two-way, penalty-killing forwards, as it did for 4 Nations with guys like Vincent Trocheck and Chris Kreider, Tuch would be a logical choice for Guerin and Co.

Last season, of the 12 Americans with 30 or more goals, Tuch’s plus-minus (16) ranked third. His 176:31 of total shorthanded ice time ranked sixth among NHL forwards, any nationality, and his six shorthanded goals led the league. And with 113 shot blocks, he set a single-season record for a forward since that stat was introduced in 2005-06.

Other American forwards, including Jason Robertson, Cole Caufield and Clayton Keller, boast different skillsets and similarly strong claims for an Olympic roster spot, but Tuch still has a few months to strengthen his own.

“That’s a big goal for me this year, to try to make that team,” he said. “That’s something that really would mean a lot.”