The road to the Winter Games of Milan and Cortina is beginning to take shape, and three key members of the Ottawa Senators are firmly in the mix for Team USA’s 2026 Olympic roster.

On Tuesday, USA Hockey announced 44 players invited to attend its Olympic Orientation Camp next week in Plymouth, Michigan, and Senators captain Brady Tkachuk headlines the group. While Tkachuk had already been named to the preliminary roster of six players earlier this summer, he’ll be joined at the off-ice camp by two Sens teammates: defenseman Jake Sanderson and center Shane Pinto.

U.S. Men’s Olympic Orientation Camp Roster

Goaltenders: Joey Daccord, Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, Jeremy Swayman

Defensemen: Brock Faber, Adam Fox, Luke Hughes, Quinn Hughes, Noah Hanifin, Seth Jones, Jackson LaCombe, Charlie McAvoy, Ryan McDonagh, Brett Pesce, Neal Pionk, Jake Sanderson, Brady Skjei, Jaccob Slavin, Alex Vlasic, Zach Werenski

Forwards: Matt Boldy, Cole Caufield, Logan Cooley, Kyle Connor, Jack Eichel, Conor Garland, Jake Guentzel, Jack Hughes, Patrick Kane, Clayton Keller, Matthew Knies, Chris Kreider, Dylan Larkin, Auston Matthews, J.T. Miller, Frank Nazar, Brock Nelson, Shane Pinto, Jason Robertson, Bryan Rust, Tage Thompson, Brady Tkachuk, Vincent Trocheck, Alex Tuch

The camp is apparently more about logistics and team-building than on-ice evaluations. In fact, there's no skating at all. But it loudly indicates who's on the radar to crack a deep American roster. As NHL players return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014, the desire to win a gold medal will be right up there with winning a Stanley Cup. 

Barring injury, Tkachuk is all but assured a spot on the final roster. The 25-year-old was among the first six players named by USA Hockey back in June, a move that cemented his status as one of the Americans’ core players heading into the Games. He's expected to play a top-six role for Team USA and will probably wear a letter.

Tkachuk has represented the United States at multiple events: the World Championships, World Juniors, and the 4 Nations. At the latter event in February, he was arguably America's best player. 

Jake Sanderson was part of Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, though his experience was limited to just one game as a college sophomore.

But three years later, Sanderson has become one of the NHL’s most polished young defensemen.

The Best Is Yet To Come: Senators Defenceman Jake Sanderson Finishes Tenth In Norris Voting The development of Ottawa Senators defenceman Jake Sanderson took a big jump in 2024–25, his third season in the NHL, and his efforts didn’t go unnoticed. For the first time, Sanderson finished in the top 10 in voting for the Norris Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL’s best defenceman.

He's one of only three players in the league last season who averaged over 3 minutes of power play time per night and 2:30 of penalty kill time. Combined with his elite skating and puck skills, he's going to be a tempting option for head coach Mike Sullivan and the rest of the decision-makers.

In addition to the 2022 Olympics, Sanderson has appeared in the World Juniors and last year’s IIHF Men’s World Championship in Czechia. 

The most intriguing name among the Senators' invitees is Shane Pinto, who's entering the final season of a two-year, $3.75 million (AAV) contract with the Senators. On a number of other NHL teams, Pinto would be readying for a pile of top-six minutes or power-play time. At the moment, he's somewhat buried on Ottawa’s depth chart behind Tim Stützle and Dylan Cozens.

But the prestige of being in the mix for an Olympic best-on-best tournament might change some minds in Ottawa. A lot will depend on what Cozens delivers in his first full year as a Senator.

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Pinto has previously represented the U.S. at two World Championships and one World Junior. If he impresses enough to make the final Olympic roster, that would hike up his profile and leverage heading into his next NHL contract. With Stutzle and Cozens already pulling more than $15 million out of the cap, it wouldn't be easy for the Sens to go too much higher for a third-line center, so adjustments may eventually be required.

USA Hockey isn’t required to select only players who attend the camp (i.e. Matthew Tkachuk isn't attending), but the event does give the team an early chance to do some off-ice evaluations (where gold medals are rarely won) and team-building.

Whether all three Senators get selected for the Games or not, it's another good sign that Ottawa’s young core is finally blossoming and turning heads around the league.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News