Most of the 44 players at USA Hockey's recent Olympic orientation camp hope to make their Olympic debut in 2026, but Seth Jones' journey to Milan would be unique among that group.
Jones, a 30-year-old Florida Panthers defenseman, is the only potential Olympic rookie who both attended the last Olympic orientation camp in 2013 and was actually named to the 2022 Olympic team before the NHL withdrew six weeks before the Games.
"It was a stab in the heart when they said NHL players weren't going, right, because that's kind of like everyone's dream," he said.
It appeared Jones realized that dream in October 2021 when he was one of the first three players named to the 2022 U.S. Olympic team.
He was the lone defenseman picked, joining forwards Patrick Kane (an Olympian in 2010 and 2014) and Auston Matthews (who has already been named to the 2026 Olympic team as one of the first six).
On Dec. 22, 2021, the NHL withdrew from the Beijing Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting its season. Kane, Matthews and Jones — and 22 NHL players yet to be named — were replaced by collegians, minor leaguers and those playing for European clubs.
Jones has since seen the U.S. defenseman landscape change significantly. That was apparent as he watched last February's 4 Nations Face-Off final from home.
Jones, the top defenseman in the eyes of USA Hockey in fall 2021, wasn't one of the seven defensemen picked in fall 2024 for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
"You want to be there playing," he said of watching Canada's 3-2 overtime win over the U.S. "It was that intense. It was that competitive. I think every player that was American or Canadian wants that opportunity to play in that situation."
Four months later, Jones lifted the Stanley Cup for the first time — 24 years after attending Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final won by his hometown Colorado Avalanche.
In an oft-told story, Jones' ice path accelerated when his dad, then-Denver Nuggets forward Popeye Jones, asked Avs Hall of Famer Joe Sakic for hockey tips for his sons.
Sakic stressed skating skills. So Jones was taught to skate by a former figure skater.
In Jones' bonus room in his Dallas area home, he has hockey sticks signed by Avs Cup winners Ray Bourque and Patrick Roy, plus game-worn signed basketball shoes from Dirk Nowitzki, a former teammate of his dad.
"I was trying to beg my dad for a pair of (his) Michael Jordan signed shoes," Jones said, "but he's not going to give it to me."
Jones began making U.S. teams at age 16 for junior-level world championships. In 2013, at age 18, he was drafted fourth overall by the Nashville Predators.
As luck would have it, the Predators' general manager, David Poile, was also the USA Hockey general manager for the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Three weeks after the 2013 draft, USA Hockey announced its 48-player orientation camp roster, a group from which the 25-man 2014 Olympic team was expected to be chosen. Jones was the youngest player to make the camp.
Later that fall, Jones was in serious consideration for the last defenseman spot on the 2014 Olympic team. He could have become the first teenager to play on a U.S. Olympic men's team in the NHL participation era (since 1998).
"I think (Poile) came to me and said — it was one of the last meetings — it was me or somebody else, and they (the selection committee) went with the older guy," Jones said. "I probably took it difficultly. You want to play with Team USA. You're 19 years old. Maybe if you're even sitting (out) a game or whatever it is, or you're playing a third pair, you're still playing in the Olympics, right? So that was always a goal of mine."
While Jones is still in the mix 12 years later, the other defensemen in the running have changed. Exit Ryan Suter and Brooks Orpik. Enter Adam Fox (a Norris Trophy winner), Jaccob Slavin (a breakout star at 4 Nations) and Zach Werenski (leading points scorer at 4 Nations).
Not to mention Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy, who already made the 2026 team as part of the first six players overall.
About six more defensemen will be chosen. The full team, with selection overseen by a player evaluation committee, is expected to be named in early January.
"I wouldn't want to be in their position," Jones said of the committee.
NHL players will return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014.
