FILE PHOTO: May 16, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) shoots and scores against the Florida Panthers during the third period in game six of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images/File Photo
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Auston Matthews will lead the American charge at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games next year, as USA Hockey named the first six players to their roster on Monday with NHL stars able to compete on the Olympic stage for the first time since 2014.
Players from the top-flight North American league were expected to compete at the 2022 Beijing Games but NHL executives elected not to send players weeks before the Olympics began due to schedule disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Hockey League said it would release its talent this time around, clearing the way for the sport's biggest stars to take the Olympic stage.
Matthews, the most prolific scorer in the league since joining in 2016, will ditch his Toronto Maple Leafs blue for the stars and stripes, while Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk will play alongside brother Matthew Tkachuk, whose Florida Panthers are one win away from a second straight Stanley Cup.
The Vancouver Canucks captain and ruthless defenceman Quinn Hughes was also named to the U.S. first six, along with the Boston Bruins' Charlie McAvoy and the Vegas Golden Knights' Jack Eichel.
"We've seen the unprecedented success of our U.S. teams on the international stage this past season and we need to keep our foot on the gas," the U.S. Olympic men's team general manager Bill Guerin said in a statement.
"The players we’ve named today represent excellence. They’re committed to the mission in front of us and excited about the opportunity to represent our country in the Olympics."
The United States is set to name the rest of the team in early January for the Olympic ice hockey tournament that begins on February 11 in Milan.
Their arch rivals Canada, meanwhile, named two-time gold medallist Sidney Crosby, who scored Canada's "golden goal" at the 2010 Vancouver Games, to lead alongside seven-time All-Star Connor McDavid.
Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Brayden Point and Sam Reinhart round out Canada's first six.
Several of the league's biggest names, however, are expected to sit out with Russian teams banned from the 2026 Games, including their powerhouse ice hockey side, part of sanctions imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Christian Radnedge)
