For the 18th time in his career, Nashville Predators [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators] captain and defenseman Roman Josi [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/men-s-2026-olympic-hockey-teams-announce-their-first-six-players-tracker-and-reaction]will be representing his home country on the international stage. On Monday, the NHL announced [https://x.com/NHL/status/1934594179474076108] preliminary rosters for six players from 10 of the 12 teams competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Milan-Cortina, Italy, from February 5 to 22. Josi was named to Switzerland's preliminary roster. This will be the second time in his career that he will represent Switzerland at the Olympics. The five other Swiss preliminary roster members are Winnipeg Jets forward Nino Niederreiter, Los Angeles Kings forward Kevin Fiala and three New Jersey Devils: center Nico Hischier, forward Timo Meier and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler In his last Olympic outing, in Sochi in 2014, Josi played in all four games as Switzerland finished in ninth place. Josi has played 68 games at the senior level for Switzerland and 33 at the junior level, making his debut at the age of just 16. He has won the silver medal three times at the IIHF World Championship. He also competed for Team Europe in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, finishing as runner-up behind Canada. Josi has been critical to the Predators' success over the last decade. He has recorded at least 30 points over the last 12 seasons in Nashville, with his best finish coming during the 2021-22 season, when he had 96 points in 80 games. He has spent his entire NHL career with the Predators, recording 190 goals and 534 assists for 724 points. This past season, Josi had 38 points in 53 games and missed the final 25 games of the regular season due to an upper-body injury [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/nashville-predators-vs-florida-panthers-live-updates]. This upcoming season, his 15th in the NHL, Josi is on pace to surpass 1,000 career games, 38 games shy of the milestone. Josi is not the only Predator that will be at the Olympics, as goalie Juuse Saros [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-news/predators-goalie-juuse-saros-named-to-finland-s-preliminary-olympic-roster] was named to Finland's preliminary roster. This is the first time since 2014 that NHL players will be allowed to compete in the Winter Olympics.
