While there are still six months to the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy, the preparations are already beginning. 

National teams are hosting evaluation camps to determine which lucky few will make the cut. 

The last time the NHL sent its players to the Winter Olympics, back in 2014, 3 Nashville Predators players got the honor of representing their countries: Shea Weber (Canada), Roman Josi (Switzerland) and Simon Moser (Switzerland).

Jumping back to 2010, six Predator players competed in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver: Shea Weber (Canada), Ryan Suter (USA), Martin Erat (Czech Republic), Alexander Sulzer (Germany), Marcel Goc (Germany) and Patric Hörnqvist (Sweden). 

Hockey Canada released its Olympic Orientation Camp roster on Aug.1, and it did not contain any players from the Nashville Predators.

Notable Predators left off that roster include Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. 

As the hype builds for the Olympics, here are some Predators we could see on hockey's international stage in February. 

Roman Josi, Switzerland (confirmed) 

The Predators' captain has already been named to Switzerland's preliminary Olympic roster, representing his home country for the 18th time in his career. 

Josi has won an IIHF World Championship silver medal three times in his career and finished as runner-up with Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. In his most recent outing with the Swiss, at the 2014 IIHF World Championship, 12 points in 10 games. 

At the 2014 Olympics, Josi played in four games as Switzerland finished ninth. It's very possible the Swiss could have a strong push this year after a handful of successful finishes at the World Championship. 

It's worth mentioning that Josi's status to play could be in flux after dealing with a Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) diagnosis in the offseason. Josi is still expected to return on time for training camp. 

Josi is also just one of two Predator players that have experience playing in the Olympics.

Defenseman Nick Perbix competed in the 2022 Beijing games with the United States. At the time, NHL players were not competing in the Olympics, and Perbix was playing college hockey with St. Cloud State. 

Juuse Saros, Finland (confirmed) 

Saros participation was also confirmed as he was named to Finland's preliminary roster. 

This will be his eighth time competing with the Finns, with the most recent coming in the 2025 IIHF World Championships. Saros played in six games, posting a 4-2 record with a .943 save percentage and 1.67 goals against average. 

He also played in the 4 Nations Face-Off, where Finland finished last in the mid-season tournament. 

Similar to Josi, Saros was a shoo-in for the Olympics as he is debatably the top Finnish goalie in the league right now. The Predators have had a ton of luck with Finnish goalies, such as Pekka Rinne, who surprisingly did not play in the Olympics. 

Filip Forsberg, Sweden 

It was surprising that Forsberg was not named to Sweden's preliminary roster. 

Gabriel Landeskog, while a respected name in the NHL and the Colorado Avalanche's captain, had missed the last three seasons due to a severe knee injury and played just five games in the playoffs last year. Landeskog was named to Sweden's preliminary roster.

Nevertheless, Forsberg should be a lock for the Swedes. He's been pacing the Predators' offense for years and still scored 76 points last season, where just about everything went wrong. He is the heart and soul of this team's offensive identity. 

That last time he competed with Sweden was in the IIHF World Championship this spring, where he scored four points in nine games. He also played for the Swedes in the 4 Nations Face-Off. He's also won the Gold Medal at the World Juniors (2012) and the World Championships (2018). 

With 13 seasons under his belt in the NHL, Forsberg is flirting with becoming one of the best Swedish players to play in this league. There's little to no doubt that he'll make Sweden's Olympic roster. 

Erik Haula, Finland 

A trend so far is that teams competing in the 4 Nations Face-Off are expected to return many of their players. 

If that math adds up, Erik Haula should be a lock for Finland. He competed for the Finns in the mid-season tournament, playing in all three games. 

He's been a productive forward his entire career, despite his numbers taking a slight drop due to injury last season with the New Jersey Devils. In his previous five seasons, Haula has averaged 32 points, with the peak coming during the 2021-22 season, when he had 44 points with the Boston Bruins. 

His career high was 55 points with the Vegas Golden Knights during the 2017-18 season, the same year Vegas made a run to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season. 

This could be a big year for Haula, not just competing in the Olympics for the first time in his career, but revamping the Predators' offense.

The Olympics would be his third best-on-best tournament of his career, as he's competed in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey on top of the 4 Nations Face-Off.