Italy Hoping to Add NHL Talent for 2026 Olympics

The host nation for the 2026 Winter Olympics is hoping to add NHL talent for the upcoming games.

Jan 30, 2024; Gangwon-do, KOR; Parker Trottier (USA) celebrates scoring a goal with his teammates in the Ice Hockey Men s 6-on-6 Tournament Semifinals between Canada and (USA) at the Gangneung Hockey Centre. The Winter Youth Olympic Games, Gangwon, South Korea, Tuesday 30 January 2024. Mandatory Credit: OIS/Jonathan Nackstrand-Imagn Images / OIS/Jonathan Nackstrand-Imagn Images

The 2026 Winter Olympics are still over a year away, but the roster selection process for the participating countries is well underway. For host country Italy, the team is certainly behind the eight ball. With no active NHL players born in Italy, the pool of players available to them is slim compared to the rest of the world.

But as the host country, they get an automatic bid into the tournament, so Italy will at least play a few games at the 2026 Olympic games. According to Chris Johnston of TSN, the Italian Federation is doing everything in their power to try to improve the roster and player pool. He cited several European reports that surfaced this week about Italy pursuing the possibility of naturalizing players to expand their roster in a recent episode of Insider Trading on TSN

"Its somewhat to be determined," he said. "But there was buzz this week with a couple reports out of Europe about Italy trying to get some NHL players that have Italian ancestry."

According to Johnston, the Italian Federation met with the NHL officials and the Internation Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) about this possibility recently. Both are certainly open to improving the Italian team, but there is a caveat. Johnston explained the potential hold-up in this idea.

"They have to be under the IIHF rules," he said. "And the key part of that rule is the player has to have a passport and has to have lived and played in the country for two seasons after the age of 10."

The next year might be tough for the Italian Hockey Team, but what the insiders of TSN concluded was that there is a clear effort from the host nation. They want to field a competitive roster and are doing everything they can until then to bring in more talent.

"Certainly it sounds like the Italian Federation is trying to lobby the IIHF perhaps to get some (NHL) players on the roster."

The one saving grace for the Italian team might be their goaltending. Damian Clara is a 6'6 net minder who made history as the highest Italian-born goalie ever when he was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft. The hulking goalie is set to occupy the Italian net. He's playing over in Sweden currently where he's put up some decent performances in a back-up role.

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