Brad Marchand named to Canada’s Olympic roster, giving Panthers two on the team
Sam Reinhart isn’t the only Florida Panthers player who will represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Veteran winger Brad Marchand on Wednesday was named to Team Canada’s 25-man roster for the Olympic Games. The men’s hockey tournament will take place in Milan from Feb. 11-22.
It’s the first time both will be representing Canada at the Olympics.
Marchand, who earlier this season became the 102nd player in NHL history to record 1,000 career points, has been one of the NHL’s top producers so far this season.
The 37-year-old winger, on the first season of a six-year contract extension signed with the Panthers on July 1, has 23 goals and 45 points entering play Wednesday. His 23 goals are tied for the fifth-most in the league while his 45 points are tied for 10th.
“It’s been a huge motivating factor for almost 15 years now,” Marchand said of playing for an Olympic spot. “Ever since I kind of had a taste back in ‘14 — going to that [Olympic] camp, being on that shorter list, it has been the thing that I wanted to accomplish the most and be part of.”
Reinhart, who has 22 goals and 43 points this season, was named as part of Canada’s initial six to the Olympic roster back in June. He has been one of the NHL’s most prolific scorers over the past few seasons. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Reinhart’s first with the Panthers, his 182 goals ranks tied for sixth in the NHL. He also has 32 goals in 76 playoff games in that span.
One notable omission: Forward Sam Bennett, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy last season as MVP of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs and scored the game-tying goal for Canada in the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.
Meanwhile, several other Panthers players will learn if they made their respective countries’ Olympic rosters on Friday with the United States, Finland and Sweden all set to announce their rosters that day.
Matthew Tkachuk (United States) and Aleksander Barkov (Finland) were among the initial six players announced to rosters back in June, although Barkov has since undergone surgery to repair the ACL and MCL in his right knee that has sidelined him all season to this point and will keep him out for the Olympic Games.
Florida’s three other Finns — forwards Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen plus defenseman Niko Mikkola — all should make Finland’s roster. Defenseman Gustav Forsling should be a lock for the Swedish team as well. And defenseman Seth Jones has made a case for the United States’ roster.
Beyond them, defenseman Uvis Balinskis has already been named to Latvia’s roster. Florida prospect Sandis Vilmanis could potentially be on the Latvian team as well. Center Tomas Nosek had a case to be on the Czech Republic’s roster before an offseason knee injury that required surgery.
This story was originally published December 31, 2025 at 12:11 PM.