Auston Matthews & William Nylander Just Received the Opportunity of a Lifetime

The Winter Olympics are returning to Italy in 2026, and for the first time in 12 years, NHL players will be participating.

Twelve countries will be part of the festivities in Men's Hockey, and there are plenty of guys on the Toronto Maple Leafs who were projected to get spots on the rosters of their home countries.

Today, all twelve countries revealed the first six players of their roster. The rest of the roster will be determined at a later date. Having said that, today was the lucky day for Auston Matthews and William Nylander.

Nylander was named to Team Sweden. Of course, he played for the team at the 4 Nations Face-Off, so this outcome was to be expected.

Matthews was named to Team USA, and just like at the 4 Nations Face-Off, he is going to be the captain again, which may come as a surprise to some of the fans out there.

Either way, this is an amazing opportunity for both of these young players as they will get to play in their first-ever Olympics, which is super exciting.

Mitch Marner was not one of the first players named to Team Canada, but that should not be a surprise when you consider just how stacked the Canadians are.

Guys like Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, and Cale Makar were named to the roster, and of course, it is very well deserved.

Now, it will be interesting to see which country is able to get the Gold Medal and truly obtain hockey supremacy.

This will be one of the biggest Olympic tournaments ever, and the level of competition is going to be something else.