Finland has named its first six players who will participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics. The remainder of the rosters will be announced later this year.
Finland drops the first 6 players on its preliminary roster for the Olympic Winter Games.🇫🇮🦁#IIHF #Olympics #NHL #NHLPA @leijonat @olympics @nhl @nhlpa pic.twitter.com/wjGE7UqyRN
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) June 16, 2025
The 12-team men’s tournament will take place from Feb. 11 to 22. The teams will play in three groups. Group A features Canada, Czechia, Switzerland, and France. Group B includes Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, and Italy. Group C has the United States, Germany, Latvia, and Denmark.
Here are the first six players on Team Finland’s preliminary roster.
Juuse Saros
An NHL All-Star in 2022 and 2023, the 30-year-old from Forssa is 202-150-38 with a 2.68 goals-against average (GAA) and a .914 save percentage (SV%) in 408 games with the Nashville Predators since 2015. He was 0-2 with a 3.96 GAA and an .870 SV% at the 4 Nations Face-Off and 4-2 with a 1.67 GAA and a .943 SV% at the 2025 World Championship.
Aleksander Barkov
The 29-year-old center and Florida Panthers captain has reached the Stanley Cup Final the past three seasons, winning the championship in 2024, and has 782 points (286 goals, 496 assists) in 804 games. He has been named an NHL All-Star twice (2018, 2023). Barkov, who is from Tampere, had two points (one goal, one assist) in three games during the 4 Nations Face-Off, one assist in two games at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and was held without a point in three games in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Sebastian Aho
A 27-year-old center from Rauma, Aho is a three-time NHL All-Star (2019, 2022, 2024) with 631 points (283 goals, 348 assists) in 677 games for the Carolina Hurricanes. He had two assists in three games for Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off, played three games in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and has competed at the IIHF World Championship three times (2016, 2017, 2018).
Miro Heiskanen
An All-Star as a rookie, the 25-year-old from Espoo has averaged 24:30 of ice time per game since entering the League in 2018 and has 283 points (58 goals, 225 assists) in 475 games for the Dallas Stars, who selected him with the No. 3 pick at the 2017 NHL Draft. Heiskanen had one goal in five games for Finland at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and competed at the World Championship in 2018 and 2022.
Mikko Rantanen
The 28-year-old has 705 points (294 goals, 411 assists) in 652 games for the Stars, Colorado Avalanche and Hurricanes. He had 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) in 20 playoff games when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022 and has been named an All-Star twice (2019, 2023). From Nousiainen, he has played at the World Championship four times, most recently with nine assists in eight games in 2023.
Esa Lindell
The 31-year-old has 217 points (54 goals, 163 assists) in 684 games across 10 NHL seasons for the Stars, including five goals and 21 assists each of the past two seasons. A native of Vantaa, he had one goal in three games at the 4 Nations Face-Off, played one game at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, and has competed at the World Championship three times (2015, 2016, 2022).
Milano Cortina 2026 marks a significant milestone in ice hockey history. For the first time in 12 years, NHL players will participate in the Olympic Winter Games.
