USA Hockey took the next steps towards putting together their men’s roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics on Tuesday. Still six months prior to the Games in Italy, they revealed the 44 players who will be attending their Olympic Orientation Camp in Plymouth, Michigan, later this month.
Among the 44 invitees are 16 defensemen, and Washington Capitals rearguard John Carlson is not one of them. Carlson was also left off Team USA for this past year’s 4 Nations Face-Off despite being the number-one blueliner on the East-best Capitals.
Carlson, who finished 16th overall in Norris Trophy voting this past season, previously represented the USA at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and then again at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He also famously scored the gold-medal-winning goal for the USA against Canada at the 2010 World Juniors in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
The 35-year-old defender recorded the seventh 50-point season of his career during the 2024-25 campaign, notching 51 points (5g, 46a) in 79 games. Carlson played large roles at all three strengths for the Capitals, skating 23:34 of ice time per game, which was tops on the club and 22nd in the NHL.
Carlson not only had another great year from a boxcar stats perspective, but also produced great results for the Capitals analytically, dominating five-on-five play. With Carlson on the ice, the Caps saw 54.1 percent of shot attempts, 54.2 percent of expected goals, 54 percent of scoring chances, and 53.3 percent of high-danger chances. The team scored 65 goals with him over the boards, the most of any defender on the team.
Carlson will head into the 2025-26 season just 19 points shy of leaping over Mathieu Schneider (743) to become the fifth-highest scoring American defender in NHL history. He became only the 31st NHL defenseman to record 700 career points last January.
Other confusing snubs from the USA roster include Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, Detroit Red Wings winger Alex DeBrincat, and San Jose Sharks center Will Smith.
The final 25-man roster is expected to be announced in early January. Like Team Canada, there is a chance that players not chosen to attend the orientation camp could still end up on the final roster.
USA Hockey orientation camp roster
Forwards
Matt Boldy
Cole Caufield
Logan Cooley
Kyle Connor
Jack Eichel
Conor Garland
Jake Guentzel
Jack Hughes
Patrick Kane
Clayton Keller
Matthew Knies
Chris Kreider
Dylan Larkin
Auston Matthews
JT Miller
Frank Nazar
Brock Nelson
Shane Pinto
Jason Robertson
Bryan Rust
Tage Thompson
Brady Tkachuk
Vincent Trocheck
Alex Tuch
Defensemen
Brock Faber
Adam Fox
Luke Hughes
Quinn Hughes
Noah Hanifin
Seth Jones
Jackson LaCombe
Charlie McAvoy
Ryan McDonagh
Brett Pesce
Neal Pionk
Jake Sanderson
Brady Skjei
Jaccob Slavin
Alex Vlasic
Zach Werenski
Goaltenders
Joey Daccord
Connor Hellebuyck
Jake Oettinger
Jeremy Swayman
