Before the start of the Olympic Break, the Florida Panthers suffered a massive 6-1 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning to rank near the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings. With a record of 29-25-3, the Panthers sit eight points behind the Boston Bruins for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The chances of winning three straight Stanley Cups are slowly fading away, but there is still time to turn things around.
The men’s hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games is set to begin on Wednesday, and will be the first time since 2014 that NHLers will participate. The Panthers have a whopping 10 players in Milan, Italy, ready to compete for their countries. If all Panthers were healthy, they would have had an NHL record 13 players invited. Here’s a look at who to watch.
Latvia: Uvis Ballinskis and Sandis Vilmanis
Young forward Sandis Vilmanis and two-time Cup-winning defenseman Uvis Balinskis will be representing their native Latvia. They became the first pair of Latvian players in NHL history to record points on the same goal earlier this season.
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They will open their tournament on Thursday, Feb. 12, against the United States, before they face Germany on Saturday, Feb. 14, and Denmark on Sunday, Feb. 15.
Sweden: Gustav Forsling
Gustav Forsling has been an instrumental part of the Panthers’ back-to-back Stanley Cups. In the 2023-24 season, he led the NHL with a plus-56 rating. He’s arguably the greatest waiver wire acquisition in Panthers history.
Forsling and his band of Swedes will see preliminary action on Feb. 11 against the host country, Italy, then Feb. 13 against Finland, and Feb. 14 against Slovakia.
Finland: Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell, and Niko Mikkola
The Finnish trio of Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell, and Niko Mikkola are all donning the lion in Milan. They also played for Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off last season. Captain Aleksander Barkov would be in Italy if not for an ACL injury that has sidelined him for the rest of the season.
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Finland will face Slovakia on Wednesday in the first men’s hockey game of the Olympics. They will then face Sweden on Friday and Italy on Saturday.
Canada: Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, and Brad Marchand
Arguably the strongest offensive team of the tournament, Team Canada will feature playoff superstars Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, and Sam Reinhart. Last year, they helped Team Canada take home the gold in the 4 Nations Face-Off with Bennett scoring the game-tying goal that forced the gold medal game into overtime.
The trio will begin their tournament on Thursday against Czechia, then face Switzerland on Friday and France on Sunday.
United States: Matthew Tkachuk
The lone Panther on Team USA this time around is forward Matthew Tkachuk. If not for an injury suffered in the Winter Classic on Jan. 2, defenseman Seth Jones would also be part of that group. Tkachuk played for his home country last season during the 4 Nations Face-Off. He’s looking for redemption after his team lost to Canada in overtime in that tournament.
Fans can catch Tkachuk and his American teammates on Thursday against Latvia, Friday against Denmark, and Saturday against Germany before the tournament moves to the qualification round on Feb. 17.
