USA rules out injured Olympic defenseman, names replacement

Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones will miss the 2026 Winter Olympics for Team USA because of an injury and will be replaced by the Anaheim Ducks’ Jackson LaCombe, USA Hockey announced on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

Jones, 31, left the Jan. 2 Winter Classic with an upper-body injury after being hit up high by a puck during a loss to the New York Rangers. Jones had been named to the U.S. Olympic team earlier in the day.

USA Hockey had chosen him because of his contributions to the Panthers’ Stanley Cup run after being acquired in a 2025 trade from the Chicago Blackhawks.

LaCombe, 25, has taken part in two gold-medal runs by the USA. He was on the 2021 world junior championships team and on the 2025 world championships team. That team won the USA’s first gold medal at the tournament since 1933.

He is in his third full season in the NHL and has 31 points in 49 games this season.

The USA opens play at the Olympics on Feb. 12 against Latvia (3:10 p.m ET, USA Network, Peacock).

Other USA men’s hockey injuries

Minnesota forward Matt Boldy (undisclosed) is on the injured list. Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk and Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin recently returned from lengthy injury absences.

Other Olympic men’s hockey injuries

Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin will miss the Olympics, The Athletic reported, though Sweden has yet to name a replacement. The Swedes have other injury issues with Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog, Anaheim’s Leo Carlsson, Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek, Toronto’s William Nylander and Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman currently out. Eriksson Ek could be back this week, though the Olympic status of the others are to be determined.

Other Olympians currently out with injuries: Florida’s Brad Marchand, Washington’s Tom Wilson, Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point, Islanders’ Bo Horvat and Colorado’s Devon Toews (Canada), Philadelphia’s Dan Vladar (Czechia), Rodrigo Abols (Latvia) and Rasmus Ristolainen (Finland), and St. Louis’ Pius Suter (Switzerland).