Florida Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov and Anton Lundell will join Team Finland for the 2026 Men’s World Hockey Championship. Matthew Tkachuk is expected to play for Team USA, and if cleared, Uvis Balinskis will join Team Latvia.
Although the Florida Panthers’ 2025-26 season is officially finished, there are a few things they still have to look forward to.
The next closest events are the NHL draft lottery on May 5, where the Panthers will have the eighth-best odds of landing the first overall pick. The Panthers will also hope to remain in the top 10 and keep their selection. If the pick is outside the top 10, it will belong to the Chicago Blackhawks as part of the Seth Jones trade.
After that, it’s the Men’s World Hockey Championships, which begin on May 15. It’s been a little while since Panthers players have participated in this event, as they’ve been busy playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
But during their locker-room cleanout press conferences, coach Paul Maurice mentioned several players who might represent their countries at the World Championship, including Aleksander Barkov, Anton Lundell, Matthew Tkachuk, and Uvis Balinskis.
Barkov, despite not playing a single game during the NHL season, will represent Finland. Maurice mentioned that Barkov will be ready to go in a week or two and was also seen skating at the practice facility with Lundell and Balinskis.
Although he didn’t play any regular-season games, Barkov’s participation in the World Championships is proof that he would have joined the Panthers during the playoffs if they had earned a spot.
As for Lundell, he’s been out of the lineup since March 19 with a rib injury, but the 24-year-old was pushing hard to return for the season finale. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to recover in time, but he will be ready for the Worlds. Lundell has played in the World Championship just once, winning a silver medal.
Tkachuk, despite dealing with an injury to start the season, playing in the Olympics and welcoming his first child, was expected to take the time off, but according to Maurice, Tkachuk is considering representing Team USA at the World Championship for the first time in his career.
The Americans won this event for the first time since 1933 last year, and Tkachuk likely wants to help the Americans defend their gold medal.
Finally, Balinskis wants to play with Latvia, but he’ll need to be cleared of his injury before then. At the moment, he is still recovering from a foot injury, and if all goes well, he’ll be leading the Latvian blueline once again.
It will be interesting to see if any other Panthers players elect to play, but after three gruelling cup runs and an injury-filled campaign, it might be best to take the extended off-season to rest and heal.
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