Panthers center Sam Bennett steps in for Team Canada to replace injured forward Anthony Cirelli.
The contingent of Florida Panthers heading to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy is growing by one.
On Monday, Team Canada added Panthers center Sam Bennett to their Olympic roster.
He will replace Tampa Bay Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli, who suffered an injury during Tampa’s 6-5 win at the Stadium Series against Boston on Sunday.
Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper said earlier on Tuesday Cirelli would miss Tampa’s final two games before the NHL’s Olympic break.
Bennett is also dealing with an injury this week, but his is apparently not as serious.
Bennett left Monday’s loss to Buffalo after the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return. He didn’t participate in Florida’s practice Tuesday, after which Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said that Bennett was considered day-to-day.
It’s possible that Bennett plays in one or both of Florida’s remaining games, Wednesday against Boston or Thursday in Tampa.
Both Bennett and Cirelli were on Team Canada’s roster when they won gold at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
So far this season, Bennett has racked up 19 goals and 42 points in 55 games with the Panthers while Cirelli has accumulated 15 goals and 35 points in 49 Tampa contests.
Bennett becomes the tenth Panthers player heading to the Olympics.
Also heading to Italy are Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola with Finland, Gus Forsling with Sweden, Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand with Canada, Matthew Tkachuk with the United States and Uvis Balinskis and Sandis Vilmanis with Latvia.
Florida captain Sasha Barkov and defenseman Seth Jones were selected to represent Finland and the US, respectively, but will miss the games due to injury.
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Photo caption: Feb 20, 2025; Boston, MA, USA; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team Canada forward Sam Bennett (9) during the 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey championship game against the United States at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson-Imagn Images)