Italy's Olympic hockey roster, as NHL players return to Olympics, is quite unfamiliar

Italy is hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics, and that means its teams get to participate across the board.

That includes in men's ice hockey, which quickly has everyone wondering, are there any Italian players in the NHL?

The answer is going to make things quite tough at this tournament for the hosts.

It's best-on-best hockey again at the Olympics, the first time since 2014 that NHL players can take part. Italy won't benefit.

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Does Italy's hockey roster have any NHL players?

There are zero NHL players on the Italian men's hockey roster at these Olympics.

Italy normally plays in the second-tier of the World Championships, in IIHF Division IA. This will be a very different level of play.

It begins Wednesday against a Sweden team that is entirely made up of NHL players.

Defenseman Thomas Larkin spoke with NHL.com about the honor of playing in the Olympics.

"It's very surreal to play a tournament here," Larkin said. "It's not something that I ever dreamed could happen. When you grow up playing hockey in Italy, it's not even in the realm of possible things to happen. I'm very proud to have grown up here and be from right here."

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Italy has 13 players who grew up within its borders. There are also nine Canadian-born players, two U.S. players and one Swedish player who met the requirements for eligibility.

None of the players on the roster have played even a second in the NHL, although they do have AHL and KHL experience.

They'll have to ride the wave of the home crowd momentum to see if they can pull off an upset.

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