Germany unveils men’s roster for 2026 Winter Olympics

The 25-man roster carries a few familiar faces who hope to lead their team to a respectable finish in Italy next month.

As expected, Edmonton Oilers sniper Leon Draisaitl is leading the charge. It will mark the first time since the 2019 IIHF Men’s World Championship that the five-time NHL All-Star will represent his country in international competition. He won’t be the only athlete from the league expected to play in the Olympics. Seattle Kraken netminder Philipp Grubauer will be between the pipes, with Tim Stutzle and J.J. Peterka leading a pretty solid forward group.

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider is part of a D-Corps that might struggle against some of the better teams in Group C, which includes the United States, but in a short tournament, anything is possible.

Here’s the full roster ready to compete in the tournament next month:

Forwards: Leon Draisaitl, Alexander Ehl, Dominik Kahun, Marc Michaelis, J.J. Peterka, Lukas Reichel, Tobias Rieder, Joshua Samanski, Justin Schultz, Wojciech Stachowiak, Tim Stutzle, Nico Sturm, Frederik Tiffels, Parker Tuomie

Defensemen: Leon Gawanke, Korbinian Geibel, Lukas Kalble, Jonas Müller, Moritz Müller, Moritz Seider, Fabio Wagner, Kai Wissmann

Goaltenders: Maximilian Franzreb, Philipp Grubauer, Mathias Niederberger

This will be the first time NHLers will be allowed to compete at the Olympics since Sochi in 2014. Germany hasn’t had much success in the best-on-best tournaments at the Winter Games, at best finishing eighth in Salt Lake City 24 years ago. In 2018 in PyeongChang, Germany made a Cinderella run to the gold medal game, controversially losing to the Olympic Athletes from Russia.

Here’s the Germans’ schedule for its group stage games:

• Thursday, Feb. 12: Germany vs. Denmark, 3:10 p.m. ET
• Saturday, Feb. 14: Germany vs. Latvia, 6:10 a.m. ET
• Sunday, Feb. 15: USA vs. Germany, 3:10 p.m. ET

The play-off round will take place on Feb. 17, with the quarterfinals taking place the following day. Both semifinal games will occur on Feb. 20. The bronze medal game will be held on Feb. 21, with the tournament culminating on Feb. 22 with the gold medal game.