Panthers’ Sam Bennett Named to Canadian Olympic Team

Sam Bennett had to wait a bit, but he will be an Olympian.

The Florida Panthers center will play for Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan later this month. He is replacing Tampa Bay Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli, Hockey Canada announced on Tuesday. Cirelli will miss the Olympics after being injured on Sunday in Tampa’s Stadium Series win against the Boston Bruins.

Bennett, 29, was not one of the initial 25 players Hockey Canada named to its Olympic roster in late December. The snub of the reigning Conn Smythe winner came as a shock to most in NHL circles, especially after Bennett’s impact at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, where he scored a crucial tying-goal in the Gold Medal game.

“Obviously pretty disappointed,” Bennett said in January after being left off Canada’s 25-man roster.

“I wish I could have proved that I could help that team win a gold medal, and obviously I didn’t do enough. But I try to look at what I’m grateful for, and that’s that opportunity I had last year [at 4 Nations]. That was probably the proudest moment of my career, getting to put on that jersey. So, yeah, I am going to be forever grateful for that opportunity.”

This will be the first Olympic Games for Bennett.

Bennett used the initial snub as fuel to his engine. Since being left off the Olympic team he elevated his game, leading the Panthers with six goals, and putting up the second most points (13) on the team over a 16-game span. This season, Bennett has 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) in 55 games, and is on pace to shatter his previous career-high of 51 points, which he achieved last season.

Bennett will join Florida teammates Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand with Team Canada in Milan. All three were members of Canada’s Gold-Medal winning 4 Nations-Face Off team.

At the moment, the Panthers will have a league-high 10 players representing five countries at the 2026 Winter Olympics: Sam Bennett (CAN), Brad Marchand (CAN), Sam Reinhart (CAN), Matthew Tkachuk (USA), Anton Lundell (FIN), Eetu Luostarinen (FIN), Nikko Mikkola (FIN), Gustav Forsling (SWE), Uvis Balinskis (LAT), and Sandis Vilmanis (LAT).

Bennett and Team Canada will open their Olympic play against Czechia on Feb. 12 (10:40 a.m. ET).

Slovakia and Finland will get the men’s tournament started on Feb. 11 (10:40 a.m. ET).

This story was updated after Hockey Canada’s announcement of Bennett being named to the Olympic roster on Tuesday afternoon