Projecting USA's 2030 men's Olympic hockey roster

It's been less than a week since the flame for the Milan Cortina Olympics was extinguished, but we're already looking ahead to French Alps 2030, where the United States men's hockey team will try to defend its gold medal.

Best-on-best play will return at the World Cup of Hockey in February 2028, but we're staying focused on the crown jewel of international puck: the Olympics.

So, which players will be part of Team USA four years from now? Below, we project the full 25-player roster. Players listed in bold weren't selected for the 2026 Olympic team.

We'll project Canada's 2030 Olympic hockey team on Friday.

Forwards

2026 departures: Kyle Connor, Jake Guentzel, Clayton Keller, J.T. Miller, Brock Nelson, Vincent Trocheck

We're projecting the U.S. will return eight forwards from its 2026 gold-medal winning squad. We even kept the first and third lines intact from the gold-medal game. Hughes could work his way up the lineup, but his group really began to jell, and Knies has built-in chemistry with Matthews. Remember, these are specific line combinations, not a depth chart.

Miller, Nelson, and Trocheck aged out of this roster. We replaced them with younger players cut from the same cloth like Beniers, Pinto, and Doan. All three are responsible defensive players who could be used on the penalty kill, something general manager Bill Guerin - assuming he reprises his role - clearly values.

Smith and Gauthier are on track to become stars. Connor and Keller were easy cuts given their minimal impact in the 2026 tournament, but it was tough to omit Guentzel, who will be 35 in 2030.

While we also considered 2026 snubs Cole Caufield and Jason Robertson, we figured that if Guerin didn't want to take them in their primes amid tremendous seasons, he probably won't when they're 29 and 30, respectively.

Defense

2026 departures: Noah Hanifin, Jaccob Slavin

Most of the blue line also remains intact except Hanifin, who played six minutes in the gold-medal game, and Slavin, who will be 35 years old in 2030. We wouldn't put it past Slavin to still be going strong, but we opted for a younger replacement in Vlasic. He's just 24 right now and already a highly effective shutdown defender thanks in large part to his 6-foot-6, 217-pound frame.

We also added Hutson, although Guerin didn't even invite him to the 44-player Olympic orientation camp this past summer. Hutson's lack of size will always be a limitation, but in four years, it's possible he'll have made strides defensively without losing any of his game-breaking offensive ability.

Goaltending

2026 departure: Jake Oettinger

Hellebuyck would be 36 at the next Olympics and already has a lot of mileage on his tires, but we're giving him the benefit of the doubt after his all-time performance in the 2026 gold-medal game. Generational goalies of his ilk tend to remain effective into their mid-30s.

He could be pushed, though. Knight is fulfilling his promise with a outstanding 2025-26 season and is still only 24 years old. Swayman and Oettinger are both only 27, and either one could easily be the starter by 2030. We gave Swayman the third-string job since he's played better this season, but it's a toss-up.