Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk named EA Sports NHL 26 cover athlete
For the first time in nearly three decades, a member of the Florida Panthers will grace the cover of the latest EA Sports NHL video game release around the world.
He’s loud. He’s relentless. He’s a problem. Now he’s the face of the game.
See the full #NHL26 reveal August 6th: https://t.co/dXmeA7gpdw pic.twitter.com/2s2cneeJMs
Fresh off winning his second consecutive Stanley Cup championship with the Panthers, Matthew Tkachuk has been named the face of NHL 26, slated for release in September.
Tkachuk, 27, is the first member of his family to land an EA NHL cover, and the first Panther to do so since goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck was selected for NHL 97.
Both Panthers cover stars landed the gig after leading the team to the Stanley Cup Final, although Vanbiesbrouck’s impressive 22-game, .932 save percentage playoff run ended in a sweep at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche.
Tkachuk, on the other hand, has firmly cemented himself as a bona fide champion in South Florida (and an all-time enemy of the Edmonton Oilers). The Panthers have reached the Final every year since Tkachuk arrived, falling to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 before defeating the Oilers in 2024 and 2025.
A first-round pick (No. 6 overall) of the Calgary Flames in 2016, Tkachuk quickly emerged as a top-tier power forward over his six seasons in Calgary before being traded to Florida for a package including Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, and a 2025 first-round pick (Cullen Potter).
Tkachuk has averaged well over a point per game in each of his three seasons with the Panthers and has remained consistently dangerous in the postseason, collecting 25 goals and 69 points in 67 games while often battling injuries during his three Final runs. He played for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off and will do so again, health permitting, at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
While Vanbiesbrouck and Tkachuk are the only two Panthers players to be named the main cover stars for an EA NHL video game, an asterisk is required: Olli Jokinen, who captained the team for a large swath of its playoff drought in the aughts, replaced Markus Naslund on the cover of NHL 2005 for its release in European markets.