Montreal Canadiens forward Alexandre Texier will be joining teammates Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky and Oliver Kapanen at next month’s Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.
On Tuesday, Team France named Texier as their final selection for the men’s Olympic team roster. The rest of the team had been named in December, but because of an agreement with the NHL, Texier’s name was omitted until now. He’s the lone Frenchman currently playing in the NHL.
Texier will join a few former NHLers on the squad, notably Pierre-Édouard Bellemare and Stephane Da Costa.
Since joining the Canadiens as a free agent in November, Texier has three goals and five assists in 20 games, with a +1 rating.
The 6-foot-1, 196-pound winger was born in Saint-Martin-d’Hères, France, and played for Grenoble in his home country’s top league when he was drafted in the second round (45th overall) by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2017.
Team Czechia also finalized their roster for the Olympics, and Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes did not make the cut. The country went with three other NHL goalies: Lukas Dostal, Daniel Vladar and Karel Vejmelka.
The 2026 Winter Olympics will be held from Feb. 6 to 22. Team Canada will play its first game in Milan on Feb. 12 against Czechia. The last time NHL players participated in the Winter Games was 2014 in Sochi, Russia, where Canada won the gold medal.