Team USA unveiled its 25-man roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics, and Whitefish native and Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson made the cut.
Sanderson was one of 19 players officially added to the roster on Friday after the first six players were named to the team in June — Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy.
Sanderson is one of eight defenseman on the Team USA roster along with Hughes, McAvoy, Seth Jones, Brock Faber, Noah Hanifin, Jaccob Slavin and Zach Werenski.
Sanderson also played for Team USA in the NHL's 4 National Face-Off last February, scoring a second-period goal in a 3-2 overtime loss to Canada in the championship game. He previously played internationally for Team USA at the 2021 World Juniors, the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 2024 IIHF World Championship.
Born in Whitefish in 2002, Sanderson grew up playing in the Glacier Hockey Association. His family moved to Calgary, Alberta, when he was 12. He is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, but chooses to represent the U.S. in international competition. Sanderson's father Geoff scored 355 goals in 17 NHL seasons.
So far in the 2025-26 season, Sanderson has eight goals and 20 assists with a plus-6 rating. The 23-year old has appeared in 275 NHL games, accumulating 155 points.
Forwards named to the Team USA roster are Matthews, Eichel, Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, Matt Boldy, Kyle Connor, Jake Guentzel, Jack Hughes, Clayton Keller, Dylan Larkin, J.T. Miller, Brock Nelson, Tage Thompson and Vincent Trocheck.
The goaltenders are Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman.
The 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Feb. 6-22.
