George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers will be well represented at the 2026 Winter Games with five of their players invited by Canada to their National Team Olympic Orientation Camp.
The camp will be held in Calgary from Aug. 26-28 Hockey Canada announced on Friday.
Sam Reinhart has already been named to the Olympic team for Canada.
He will be joined at Orientation camp by some teammates — as well as some former teammates.
Joining Reinhart will be Florida Panthers Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, and Carter Verhaeghe.
Reinhart, Bennett, and Marchand were all members of Canada’s entry at the 4 Nations Face-Off this past February although Marchand was still a member of the Bruins at that time.
Former Panthers Sam Montembeault, Brandon Montour, and MacKenzie Weegar were also invited. Jonathan Huberdeau was not but he could still make the team with a strong start to the upcoming season.
In June, the 12 countries participating at the Winter Olympics in Italy named the first six players to their preliminary rosters.
Aside from Reinhart, the Panthers had three other players named to their respective nation’s teams: Sasha Barkov (Finland), Matthew Tkachuk (USA), and Uvis Balinskis (Latvia).
The remainder of the teams will be announced later; the Panthers will have plenty of their players going to the Olympics come February.
The men’s tournament starts with preliminary games on Feb. 11 and the tournament runs through the Gold medal game on Feb. 22.
This is the first time NHL players have participated in the Olympics since 2014.
“It’s incredible,’’ Reinhart said after being named to Team Canada in June.
“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 obviously pretty exciting.”
The Panthers could have a good portion of its team playing in the Olympics this season with Barkov leading a large group of players for Finland including Anton Lundell, Niko Mikkola, and Eetu Luostarinen.
Seth Jones is going to be in the running to join Tkachuk on Team USA; Gus Forsling will play for Sweden.
Russia is not being allowed to compete in these Olympics or Sergei Bobrovsky and Dmitry Kulikov would have a chance to go as well.
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2024 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS 2025
FLORIDA PANTHERS
UP NEXT
- NHL Free Agency: Opened June 1
- Panthers Rookie Camp, Fort Lauderdale IcePlex: Early September
- Prospect Showcase @ Tampa Bay Lightning: Early September, Wesley Chapel
- Training Camp: Mid-September
- Exhibition Games: Starts Sept. 21 @ Nashville (doubleheader)
- Opening Night: Oct 7 vs. Chicago Blackhawks, 5 p.m.
- Complete Florida Panthers 2025-26 Schedule