Ten former NHL players who will be representing their countries at the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
NHL stars will showcase their skill at the upcoming 2026 Olympics in Milan in almost a month.
Eleven of the 12 nations competing in the men's hockey tournament have revealed their rosters. Just the hosts, Italy, are yet to unveil theirs.
A few names listed to go to the Olympics have brought some nostalgia to NHL fans, as they used to have notable NHL tenures and now play overseas to continue their professional hockey careers.
Here are 10 notable former NHLers you may remember, sorted by the most NHL games played.
10. Dominik Kahun, C, Germany
Dominik Kahun is no stranger to the Olympics. The center competed in the last two Winter Games in Pyeongchang (2018) and Beijing (2022) for Germany and is set to feature in a third.
In terms of his NHL past, he's played 186 regular-season games between the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers.
Across three seasons in the NHL, he scored 34 goals and 83 points. His best year was with the Blackhawks in his first NHL season, fresh off three straight championships with Munich in the DEL. He scored 13 goals and 24 assists for 37 points.
9. Sven Andrighetto, RW, Switzerland
Sven Andrighetto, formerly of the Montreal Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche, played 216 regular-season games and 11 playoff games between the 2014-15 and 2018-19 campaigns.
After 31 goals, 83 points and five seasons in the NHL, Andrighetto went to play overseas. He played one season in the KHL, and since 2020-21, he's been with Zurich in the Swiss National League. In the last two campaigns, Zurich has been crowned champions of the NL.
The 32-year-old represented Switzerland at the 2022 Olympics, recording three assists in five games.
8. Martin Marincin, D, Slovakia
Toronto Maple Leafs fans will remember Martin Marincin. The Slovakian defenseman featured in 142 regular-season contests and nine playoff games for the Leafs.
He is the highest-drafted player on this list, as the Oilers selected him 46th overall in the second round of the 2010 draft. Marincin played 85 games for Edmonton across two campaigns before being traded to Toronto in 2015.
Marincin, 33, played for Slovakia at the 2022 Olympics. He and his team went on to medal at that tournament in Beijing, defeating Sweden in the bronze medal game.
7. Michal Kempny, D, Czechia
Michal Kempny, who will suit up for Czechia on the back end at the 2026 Olympics, is the only player on this list who has won the Stanley Cup, though others have come close.
He hoisted the Cup in his first season with the Washington Capitals in 2017-18. Kempny was in the NHL for only parts of five seasons but was a regular in the lineup. In the Cup-winning post-season, Kempny played all 24 games.
With that, he played a total of 247 regular-season games, including his first 81 with the Blackhawks. He now plays for the Swedish League's Brynas.
6. Denis Malgin, C, Switzerland
Denis Malgin and Andrighetto, who will be teammates at the Olympics, have also been teammates at the club level for the past three seasons.
Before re-joining Zurich in 2023-24, Malign had tenures with the Avalanche, Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers.
The center played 257 NHL regular-season games, along with seven playoff appearances. In parts of five NHL campaigns, Malign recorded 41 goals and 40 assists for 81 points.
In February 2020, Florida received left winger Mason Marchment in exchange for Malgin in a 1-for-1 trade.
5. Ondrej Kase, RW, Czechia
Ondrej Kase played 258 games in the NHL for the Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes.
The right winger had an injury-plagued NHL career, but when he was healthy, he was a solid depth scorer. Kase recorded a 20-goal campaign in 2017-18 with Anaheim and four seasons with at least 20 points. However, he never played more than 66 matches in a year.
The 30-year-old, which the Ducks drafted in the seventh round in 2014, has spent the past three seasons in Czechia's Extraliga with Litvinov, playing alongside his brother, David.
4. Dominik Kubalik, LW, Czechia
Dominik Kubalik was an effective offensive player in all five NHL seasons he played. Suiting up for the Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators, Kubalik played 357 regular-season contests.
In that time, between 2019-20 and 2023-24, the Czech left winger scored 93 goals and 176 points.
The 30-year-old had two 40-plus-point campaigns and never scored fewer than 10 goals. Kubalik finished third in the Calder Trophy race, scoring 30 goals and 46 points in his rookie season.
He represented Czechia at the 2018 Olympics, registering two goals in five games.
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3. Tobias Rieder, LW, Germany
Tobias Rieder played seven seasons in the NHL across five different franchises. He featured for the Arizona Coyotes, Los Angeles Kings, Oilers, Calgary Flames and Sabres.
The left winger wasn't a big-time scorer in The Show, but he was a serviceable NHler for several seasons. He wound up playing 478 games in the regular season and 14 in the playoffs. In that span, he posted 64 goals and 145 points between 2014-15 and 2020-21.
Rieder, 32, is gearing up for his second Olympic Games, representing Germany in 2022.
In Beijing, he scored one goal and one assist across four outings.
2. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, C, France
One of the few players from France with NHL experience, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare had a respectable career.
Playing 700 regular-season and 85 post-season contests, Bellemare was a fourth-line staple for Stanley Cup-contending teams.
The Frenchman had plenty of deep playoff runs, including Cup final appearances with the Vegas Golden Knights and Tampa Bay Lightning, yet couldn't get his hands on the prize.
Impressively enough, he opened his NHL account with the Philadelphia Flyers at 29 years old, and still played a decade in the league.
Now, as a 40-year-old, Bellemare is still kicking it in the Swiss National League.
1. Tomas Tatar, LW, Slovakia
The most successful player on this list, with 927 regular-season games played and 496 points scored, Tomas Tatar will be in Milan for Slovakia at the 2026 Olympics. He was also at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, the last time NHL players competed in the tournament.
For a large part of his career, Tatar was a top-six left winger who played for the Red Wings, Golden Knights, Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Avalanche, Seattle Kraken, and another tenure with the Devils to cap off his NHL career.
Last year, with the Devils, was his final season in North America's top league. He played 74 games and scored seven goals, along with 10 helpers for 17 points.
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