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Dans Locmelis has performed very well with the Providence Bruins in his first full season with the team and he’s looked like a legitimate player at the 2026 Winter Olympics while representing Latvia. (Photo credit: Jared Beltz/Hartford Wolf Pack Flickr)

Locmelis Representing Bruins Well at Olympics

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Brandon Share-Cohen | Last updated Feb 16, 2026 8:45 AM ET

The Boston Bruins are one of the most represented teams at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. While many of the team’s active NHL roster players are in action for their countries on the global level, another name creating headlines is prospect and Providence Bruins‘ forward Dans Locmelis. The 22-year-old forward is currently representing his home country of Latvia at the Olympics and he hasn’t looked the slightest bit out of place.

Locmelis isn’t the only player making the trip from an NHL or AHL team to represent Latvia. The fourth-round pick of the Bruins in 2022 is joined by Sandis Vilmanis and Uvis Balinskis of the Florida Panthers, Elvis Merzlikins of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Arturs Silovs of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Zemgus Girgensons of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Teodors Blugers of the Vancouver Canucks, Anri Ravinskis of the Abbotsford Canucks, and Eduards Tralmaks of the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Locmelis started the tournament off unremarkably with one shot and a 38% faceoff percentage in 14:18 of ice time against the United States. He’d follow that up with a very impressive two goals on two shots with a 50% faceoff percentage in 14:57 of ice time against Germany. His most recent game featured two shots on goal and a 60% faceoff win percentage in 18:30 of ice time against Denmark.

Following his game against Germany, Locmelis had the following to say:

“Definitely feels good,” said Locmelis. “It feels good to get the first one. It was nice to play against the U.S. in the last game to get the feeling, like NHL-level or even better than NHL-level. So, it was way easier today. We were almost used to the high, high pace.”

It’s been encouraging to see Locmelis hold his own alongside and against some other NHL-level talent in such a high-profile tournament. He’s also been gaining trust from the Latvian coaching staff and has progressively seen a bump in ice time across all three games.

Locmelis Playing Well With Providence

In the AHL, Locmelis has made the transition from the collegiate ranks to the professional level fairly seamlessly. In his first six games of action with Providence last season, he’d score three goals and 12 points in the regular season while adding just one assist in four postseason contests. This season, Locmelis has scored 15 goals and 28 points in 43 games and looks like he has legitimate NHL potential.

Evaluating talent in the NHL Draft is a difficult endeavor and finding a player who looks capable of making the jump to the NHL one day in the fourth round should always be appreciated and celebrated. Locmelis is a name that Bruins’ fans should be keeping tabs on at the Olympic level, as well as in Providence, as he could make the jump to Boston one day in the not-so-distant future.

With the Bruins looking like they’re on track for a much more accelerated retool than anyone could have expected, making the jump to the NHL roster won’t be easy. This is especially true as some of the team’s other prospects continue to make an impact and push for a spot in the near future. Players like Matt Poitras, Fabian Lysell and Georgii Merkulov are already pushing for spots from the Providence roster, and that doesn’t even account for players like Dean Letourneau, James Hagens and Will Zellers who are all having stellar collegiate seasons.

Despite this, Locmelis has as good a chance as any player in the system to make the Bruins’ roster in the future. If he can continue to refine his skillset and put in the effort, he should be able to carve out a nice career for himself.