Sophomore goaltender Adam Gajan of the University of Minnesota Duluth has been selected to represent Slovakia at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, becoming the only current NCAA player on any national roster. The 21-year-old from Poprad, Slovakia, will miss four games for the Bulldogs during the tournament. Gajan's inclusion highlights the scarcity of goaltending options for his country despite the return of NHL players to the Games.
Adam Gajan, a sophomore netminder for the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, was recently named to Team Slovakia's roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. This marks him as the only active NCAA player participating in the men's ice hockey tournament, which begins on February 11, 2026. Gajan, a native of Poprad, Slovakia, steps away from UMD's key series against North Dakota this weekend to pursue this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Gajan brings international experience from two World Junior Championships in 2023 and 2024, where he achieved a 2.45 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage across eight games. Named one of Slovakia's top three players both years, he earned the goaltender of the tournament award in 2023 after leading his team to the gold medal game. "Just try not to think about it too much. The game is the same. I love playing big games, you know, like when the game matters most," Gajan said.
At 21, Gajan is one of three 2004-born players on the roster, making him the second youngest behind St. Louis Blues prospect Dalibor Dvorsky. The return of NHL players to the Olympics has not alleviated Slovakia's goaltending shortage, prompting Gajan's selection. He follows in the footsteps of UMD's Noah Cates, who represented Team USA in 2022 when NHL participation was absent. Gajan becomes the 15th Bulldog to compete at the Olympics and only the second UMD goaltender, joining Bob Mason from 1984.
"Representing my country at the World Juniors was insane, and now the Olympics is the biggest tournament, with the best players in the world. Just being twenty-one and going to the Olympics is insane," Gajan expressed. This season, the Chicago Blackhawks' 2023 second-round pick has recorded a 15-11 mark with a 2.29 GAA and .905 save percentage for UMD, a marked improvement from his injury-plagued freshman year.
During the holiday break, Gajan gained valuable experience at the Spengler Cup with the U.S. Collegiate Selects, facing professionals despite modest stats of 1-1, 4.03 GAA, and .873 save percentage. "Yeah, obviously it was very different than college, playing against professional players," he reflected.
Gajan joins goaltenders Samuel Hlavaj of the AHL's Iowa Wild and Stanislav Skorvanek of Czech Extraliga's Mountfield HK. While uncertain of playing time, he remains eager: "I’m really excited to get to know them more... any role I will have, I’ll try to help the team win some games." The experience promises growth against the world's elite, even if as a backup.
