5 Florida Panthers players named to initial rosters for 2026 Winter Olympics
The Florida Panthers’ focus right now is repeating as Stanley Cup champions. They’re one win away from doing that, up 3-2 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers.
But once this run ends, several Panthers players will already be able to start looking ahead to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
The 12 teams that will participate in the Olympics next February announced the first six players for their rosters on Monday.
The Panthers were well represented, with five players in Aleksander Barkov (Finland), Matthew Tkachuk (United States), Sam Reinhart (Canada), Uvis Balinskis (Latvia) and Nico Sturm (Germany) among the 72 players announced to rosters.
Barkov, who was is the lone repeat Olympian from this group, playing for Finland in 2014 when they won the bronze medal. He appeared in two games as an 18-year-old before sustaining a knee injury that sidelined him the rest of the tournament.
Joining Barkov on Finland’s initial roster are forwards Mikko Rantanen and Sebastian Aho, defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell, and goaltender Juuse Saros.
“I was fortunate to represent Finland once already at the Olympics, and that’s for sure the biggest, biggest hockey tournament for national teams,” Barkov said. “That was my dream as a kid to be there. I got to experience that for a little bit for two games, and now to be named again is a huge honor.”
Tkachuk has become one of the faces of USA hockey, a notion that was amplified after the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. The winger has the blend of scoring prowess, edginess and charisma that makes for a superstar. His stock has risen dramatically over his three years with the Panthers, a time in which he has scored 88 goals in the regular season and has 68 points in the postseason.
The other five players named to the United States’ preliminary roster: forwards Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk and Jack Eichel plus defensemen Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy.
Reinhart has quickly become one of the league’s top scorers. In four years with the Panthers, he has scored 140 goals in the regular season and another 28 in the playoffs, including the Stanley Cup clincher in Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers last year.
The rest of Canada’s initial roster: forwards Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Brayden Point plus defenseman Cale Makar.
“It’s incredible,” Reinhart said. “When you’re growing up when you’re watching as a kid, it’s Stanley Cup finals and it’s Team Canada. Those are the two things that you dream about playing for. To have that opportunity is pretty exciting.”
Balinskis, who has been with the Panthers for two seasons, made his international debut for Latvia at the 2023 World Championships where he helped them win a bronze medal with a 4-3 overtime win over the United States. Balinskis had a pair of assists in that tournament.
Latvia’s other five players named to its initial roster are goaltenders Elvis Merzlikins and Arturs Silovs as well as forwards Rodrigo Abols, Teddy Blugers and Zemgus Girgensons.
“We had that good year when we won a bronze medal, and I just think that since then, the team has been playing better than before,” Balinskis said. “A lot of guys are doing better individually too. A lot of guys are signing with NHL. We’re just growing as a team every year.”
Sturm, who joined the Panthers in a trade deadline deal with the San Jose Sharks, has represented Germany at both the 2023 and 2024 World Championships. Germany won silver in 2023, a run in which Sturm had six goals and eight points, and finished sixth in 2024.
The rest of Germany’s initial roster announcement includes forwards Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stutzle, and Lukas Reichel, defenseman Moritz Seider and goaltender Philipp Grubauer.
“Being an Olympian is something that not a lot of athletes can say about their careers,” Sturm said. “It’s the best athletes in the world from every sport. It’s definitely something that I’ve marked on my calendar, something that I wanted to achieve in my career.”
Florida had a league-high eight players participate in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, a precursor to next year’s Olympic Games that saw the top NHL players from the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden face each other in a best-on-best tournament.
Logic would dictate that all eight of those players — Barkov, Anton Lundell, Niko Mikkola and Eetu Luostarinen for Finland; Tkachuk for the United States; Reinhart and Sam Bennett for Canada; and Gustav Forsling for Sweden — would all make their respective countries’ rosters again for the Olympics.
The 12 countries taking part in the Olympics for men’s ice hockey are Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
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