Unlike most nations, for Team Italy, there’s a simple goal at the 2026 Winter Games: avoid embarrassment. With no NHL players projected to make the squad, a single victory will be immensely tough to come by.
With that being said, though, there are multiple reasons for optimism. First, with the Olympics hosted in Milan, they’ll have their home crowd behind them during every contest. Furthermore, they’ll be led by bench boss Jukka Jalonen, who is one of the more decorated coaches in recent years of International Hockey: primarily as the coach for Team Finland during 13 major international championships, including the 2022 Olympics where they won gold.
Damian Clara, Diego Kostner, Thomas Larkin, Daniel Mantenuto, Tommy Purdeller and Luca Zanatta have already been named to the roster. Here’s how the rest of the lineup could shape up.
Other 2026 Olympic Roster Projections:
Projected Roster for Italy
It’s important to note that the Winter Olympics will not be held until Feb. 2026, so there’s still time. Regression, progression and injuries could play a large role in what the actual roster will look like. With that being said, you should get familiar with some of these names as they look to give Italian hockey some of its’ most memorable moments.
| LW | C | RW |
| Daniel Tedesco | Bryce Misley | Tommy Purdeller |
| Dustin Gazley | Daniel Mantenuto | Nick Saracino |
| Luca Frigo | Mikael Frycklund | Marco Zanetti |
| Alex Ierullo | Diego Kostner | Alex Petan |
| Dan Catenacci | Daniel Frank |
| LD | RD | G |
| Alex Trivellato | Thomas Larkin | Damian Clara |
| Luca Zanatta | Phil Pietroniro | Davide Fadani |
| Daniel Glira | Greg DiTomaso | Andreas Bernard |
| Dylan Di Perna |
The last time that Italy participated in the Olympics was 2006, when they failed to earn a victory but finished 11th out of 12, just ahead of Latvia thanks to draws against Switzerland and Germany. Their last Olympic win came on Feb. 10, 1998, a 5-2 victory over Austria.
Even with all the odds against them, don’t count this Italian squad out. Much of this group is laden with veterans who have experience against NHL competition from some bouts at the World Championships.
Goaltender Damian Clara, the first ever Italian-born player to be drafted (Anaheim Ducks, Rd. 2, 2023), will be a true X-factor. He sports an impressive .914 save percentage (SV%) in 17 international contests for Italy. This past season, he had a .910 SV% on loan for Kärpät in the Finnish Liiga. He also got a brief taste of the American Hockey League (AHL) for two contests towards the end of the season. It’s a tough spot to put the kid in, as the Olympics will start just days after he turns 21. But he has the raw talent to be able to keep the Italians in a game where they’re getting outshot.
Veteran Daniel Tedesco has put up respectable offensive numbers at every stop throughout his career, including four goals and eight total points in just five games at the 2025 D1A Worlds – second out of 120 skaters in the tournament. Tommy Purdeller is just 21 years old and was a point-per-game player at the D1A Worlds. He had 47 points in 63 games for the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) just two seasons ago, and could be an important offensive piece for the Italians.
Despite the lack of NHL experience, a lot of these players frequently match up against ex-NHLers and top prospects across various leagues in Europe. The level of competition is still super high. That was evidenced during some occasions in recent years, like the 2019 World Championships, when they took down Austria in a shootout.
Final Word
With a veteran-heavy lineup, home crowd advantage and one of the greatest international hockey minds at the helm, this Italian squad will surely put up a fight.
In the preliminary round, Italy will take on Sweden, Slovakia and Finland. There’s no denying that Sweden and Finland would be near impossible to defeat, but they at least would have a fighting chance against the Slovaks. At the 2017 Worlds, Italy was winning 2-1 with just 1:07 to go against the Slovaks, but crumbled late. However, Slovakia will be more NHL-heavy than they were then.
Coach Jalonen won two World Championship gold medals by leading a squad of mostly non-NHLers past opponents loaded with them. His teams always play a committed, tight defensive game. All it could take is a couple bounces to bring Italy and its’ home crowd a victory to remember forever.
Other potential options/might miss the cut: Domenic Alberga, Raphael Andergassen, Anthony Bardaro, Lorenzo Casetti, Diego Cuglietta, Ivan De Luca, Tommaso De Luca, Patrick Demetz, Giordano Finoro, Daniel Gellon, Matteo Gennaro, Gregorio Gios, Mike Halmo, Dante Hannoun, Simon Kostner, Enrico Larcher, Alan Lobis, Matthias Mantinger, Michele Marchetti, Angelo Miceli, Kris Pietroniro, Filippo Rigoni, Anthony Salinitri, Jason Seed, Alessandro Segafredo, Peter Spornberger, Gianluca Vallini
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