Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk will be the face of NHL 26
Matthew Tkachuk has been the face of the Florida Panthers for the past three years. He is becoming one of the faces of USA hockey, too, leading into the Winter Olympics in February.
And now, he’s the face of the NHL’s annual video game.
Tkachuk, the Panthers’ star winger, will be the cover athlete for NHL 26, EA Sports unveiled on Monday. The full cover design for the game will be announced Wednesday on the EA Sports NHL YouTube channel.
Tkachuk, who joined the Panthers via a blockbuster trade with the Calgary Flames ahead of the 2022-23 season, has helped turn the Panthers into a juggernaut. Florida has reached the Stanley Cup Final in all three of his seasons with the team and won it all each of the past two years.
In that time, Tkachuk has logged 254 points (88 goals, 166 assists) in 211 regular-season games with the Panthers while adding another 69 points (25 goals, 44 assists) in 67 Stanley Cup playoffs games. He was tied for the team lead with 23 points during the team’s run to a second consecutive Stanley Cup.
Tkachuk also helped the United States win silver in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February and has already been named one of six players to be on Team USA for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
Tkachuk is the second Panthers player to grace the cover of the video game’s main cover. Goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck was on the cover of NHL 97. Meanwhile, Olli Jokinen was on the cover of the European version of NHL 2005.
It’s the second time in the past three years a South Florida athlete has been the main cover athlete for a league’s video game. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was on the cover of 2023 edition of MLB The Show when he was with the Miami Marlins.
This story was originally published August 4, 2025 at 1:45 PM.
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