Slovakia roster for 2026 Winter Olympics includes Slafkovsky, Nemec

Slovakia unveiled its roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Thursday, headlined by Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky and New Jersey Devils defenseman Simon Nemec.

Slovakia won bronze at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

This is the first group of NHL players to represent Slovakia at the Olympics since 2014, when NHL players most recently participated.

The tournament will feature all 12 teams playing three preliminary games in their respective groups.

The three group winners and the best second-place team will get a bye into the quarterfinals; the other eight teams will play single-elimination games to determine the other four quarterfinalists. The gold medal game will be held on Feb. 22.

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

Team Slovakia, which is in Group B, will open against Team Finland on Feb. 11, then play Team Italy on Feb. 13 and Team Sweden on Feb. 14.

Here is the Team Slovakia roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 (in alphabetical order) and a breakdown by NHL.com of each position group:

FORWARDS (14)

Peter Cehlarik, Leksands IF
Dalibor Dvorsky, St. Louis Blues
Marek Hrivik, Vitkovice Ridera
Libor Hudacek, Ocelari Trinec
Milos Kelemen, Dynamo Pardubice
Adam Liska, Severestal
Oliver Okuliar, Skelleftea AIK
Martin Pospisil, Calgary Flames
Pavol Regenda, San Jose Sharks
Adam Ruzicka, Moskva
Juraj Slafkovsky, Montreal Canadiens
Matus Sukel, Verva
Samuel Takac, Bratislava
Tomas Tatar, EV Zug

Offense will be built around Slafkovsky, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft who had great success at the 2022 Beijing Olympics as a 17-year-old, winning bronze and being named the tournament MVP. There were no NHL players in Beijing, but that won't make a big difference for Slovakia this time, especially when it comes to forwards, with Pospisil, Regenda and Dvorsky being the only others on an NHL roster. Tatar left the League after last season to play in Switzerland, yet he will likely be team captain. Coach Vladimir Orszagh will hope that players coming from European leagues, mostly the Czech Extraliga, can also make an impact.

DEFENSEMEN (8)

Peter Ceresnak, Dynamo Pardubice
Erik Cernak, Tampa Bay Lightning
Martin Fehervary, Washington Capitals
Martin Gernat, Yaroslavl
Michal Ivan, Bili Tygri
Patrik Koch, Ocelari Trinec
Martin Marincin, Ocelari Trinec
Simon Nemec, New Jersey Devils

Defense is arguably the biggest strength of Team Slovakia. Cernak and Fehervary are mainstays on their NHL teams, Ceresnak is one of the best at his position in the Czech Extraliga and Marincin brings experience from 227 NHL games. One of the team's young leaders will be Nemec, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft, who has had a promising start to the season and owns an Olympic bronze medal from Beijing.

GOALIES (3)

Adam Gajan, University of Minnesota Duluth (NCAA)
Samuel Hlavaj, Iowa
Stanislav Skorvanek, Mountfield

There are no Slovakia-born goalies playing in the NHL, with one still fighting for a recall from the AHL. Hlavaj has not had the best start to the season in Iowa but will be Slovakia's undisputed No. 1 goalie in Milan.