Adam Fox is one of the best American defenders in the NHL today, but he will not be representing his country at the 2026 Winter Olympics. This is the case even though Mike Sullivan is the head coach of Team USA, Chris Drury is an assistant general manager, and David Quinn is part of the coaching staff.
Adam Fox Olympic snub is now official
Adam Fox did not make the U.S. Olympic team. Heard New York Rangers personnel involved with Team USA - GM Chris Drury, coach Mike Sullivan, assistant David Quinn - all pushed very hard for Fox, but they understood the decision especially given depth USA has on D.
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) December 31, 2025
The news is hard to comprehend, especially when you consider how impactful Fox is as a player. He returned to the Rangers' roster in an afternoon loss to the Washington Capitals, and added a goal and an assist and is now up to 28 points in 28 games.
Heading into today, Fox had a dominant 62.83 GF%, a 57.16 CF%, and a 59.72 xGF% in nearly 508 minutes at 5v5 per Evolving-Hockey. The Rangers are surrendering just 1.64 goals against per 60 minutes when Fox is on the ice, and are scoring 2.77. This level of dominance is nothing new, but it appears that the Team USA general manager Bill Guerin is comfortable with the other defenders he is taking to Milan.
I dove deeper into the numbers of the Fox earlier today, and if you missed that story, you can check it out here.
With Fox not going to Milan, it appears the right handed defensemen going are Charlie McAvoy, Brock Faber, and Seth Jones. On the left side should be Quinn Hughes, Zach Werenski, and Jaccob Slavin. The extra names will likely include Jake Sanderson and Noah Hanifin.
Fox's snub is nothing new for Team USA
While the exclusion of Fox is very disappointing, Team USA has made decisions like this before. Heck, it appears they are doing this for the upcoming Olympics. Clayton Keller and Tage Thompson are two players who weren't part of Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and they will be joining the group for the upcoming games. Jason Robertson, one of the top American scorers in the league right now, appears to be on the outside looking out for some strange reason.
Roster announcement to be finalized on New Year's Day
While information has been trickling out, the entire roster will be unveiled on Thursday morning during a segment of the Today Show. Stay tuned for more updates, including whether or not J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck will be representing the Rangers in February.