Team USA hints at starting goaltender for Winter Olympic Games.

It appears as though Team USA has selected their starting goaltender for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, with some early signs on Monday morning pointing clearly in the direction of one man.

On Monday Team USA hit the ice for what was their second day of practice ahead of the Men's Hockey Tournament and, unlike their Canadian counterparts, their practice was open to the media. During that practice we got another look at what the American lineup is likely to look like during this tournament, but perhaps most important of all was the goaltending news.

Although an official starting goaltender has not yet been named, it was Winnipeg Jets star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck who seemed to be getting most of the work ahead of his team's first preliminary round matchup this coming Thursday. It was Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger and Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman in the opposite net although, according to Minnesota Wild insider Mike Russo, the two men were rotating which again points to Hellebuyck being the starter.

Hellebuyck has seen a dip in terms of his raw numbers this season at the National Hockey League level with a 2.79 goals against average and a .900 save percentage over 36 regular season games with the Jets this season.

That being said the numbers for all 3 goaltenders have been somewhat similar. Oettinger has recorded a 2.73 goals against average and a .897 save percentage over 37 games with the Stars while Swayman has recorded a 2.89 goals against average and a .903 save percentage over 38 games with the Bruins.

If you would like a full look at Team USA's lines and defensive pairings today, they are as follows:

Forwards:

B Tkachuk-Eichel-M Tkachuk
Guentzel-Matthews-Boldy
Connor-Larkin-Thompson
Miller-Nelson/Trocheck-J Hughes
Keller

Defensemen:

Q Hughes-McAvoy

Slavin-Faber

Hanifin-Werenski

Sanderson-Lacombe