The men's ice hockey event at the 2026 Winter Olympics is just around the corner, with team practices getting started just the other day.

The round robin is set to kick off on Feb. 11 and so we're starting to get news from Milan and how all the teams are stacking up.

Here's the latest from Italy:

After serving as one of the alternate captains for the 4 Nations Face-Off, Sebastian Aho will be reprising that role for Team Finland at the Olympics.

The 28 year old centerman has served as an alternate captain not only for the Carolina Hurricanes, but also multiple times for the Finns at a few different international tournaments from the 4 Nations Face-Off to the World Cup to World Juniors.

Finland will be captained by two-time Olympian Mikael Granlund, replacing the injured Aleksander Barkov, and Mikko Rantanen will serve as the other alternate.

At Finland's first team practice, Sebastian Aho was skating alongside former teammate Teuvo Teravainen once again.

The two were a dynamic duo for the Hurricanes throughout their eight years together and it's undeniable that they have some great chemistry. 

The two were joined by Colorado Avalanche Artturi Lehkonen on the second line for Suomi.

For Team USA, Jaccob Slavin looks like he'll be reprising his role on the team's shutdown pair alongside Minnesota Wild blueliner Brock Faber.

There were some that were wondering if Faber would be joining new Wild partner Quinn Hughes, but it looks like he'll be paired up with Charlie McAvoy on the top pairing for the Americans.

Slavin/Faber was a very strong pairing for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off last year, as they allowed just two goals against for the whole tournament while they were on the ice.

While Seth Jarvis made Team Canada, that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be playing in games and that seems to be the most likely outcome based on the team's first practice.

Jarvis was skating as an extra alongside Sam Bennett, both of them also being late additions to the team.

There's no doubt that Jarvis can play and be a productive piece for Canada, but he might have to wait for someone else to have a reason to come out to get that opportunity.

There isn't really much media attention being given to Team Denmark and I guess that makes sense being that they only have a handful of NHL players and they're considered to not really be a competitive medal candidate.

But regardless, I'm sure Frederik Andersen and Nikolaj Ehlers are going to relish in the opportunity.

There's no confirmations on lines and all that, but I can almost guarantee that Ehlers will be a top-line option and Andersen will start in net come Game 1 against the Germans.

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