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Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett has been named to Canada’s men’s hockey team for the Milan Cortina Olympics in place of injured Tampa Bay Lightning centre Anthony Cirelli.
Hockey Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee announced the change Tuesday.
Cirelli was injured Sunday in the Lightning’s 6-5 shootout win over Boston in an outdoor game in Tampa, Fla., when he was hit by Bruins forward Mark Kastelic. has 15 goals and 20 assists in 49 games with the Lighting with a defensive rating of plus-30.
Cirelli has 15 goals and 20 assists in 49 games with the Lighting with a defensive rating of plus-30.
Bennett, a two-time Stanley Cup champion and Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP in 2025, played for Canada last year at the 4 Nations Face-Off international tournament.
He has 19 goals and 23 assists in 55 games this season.
The 29-year-old Bennett, from Holland Landing, Ont., was considered one of the top injury replacement options at forward. Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets, Zach Hyman of the Edmonton Oilers and Chicago’s Connor Bedard are other high-profile forwards who didn’t make the Olympic roster.
The status of Lightning forward Brayden Point, one of the first six players named to Canada’s roster, is still in some doubt heading into the Games. Point hasn’t played since sustaining an injury in a Jan. 12 game against Philadelphia, but he has resumed skating with the team.
Nineteen-year-old Macklin Celebrini will join Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon on the Canadian men’s Olympic hockey team, as NHLers return to the Winter Games for the first time in more than a decade.
Known as one of the NHL’s top agitators, Bennett has also consistently produced in big moments. Five of his league-leading 15 goals in the 2025 playoffs came in Florida’s six-game win over Edmonton in the Stanley Cup final.
He also had seven goals and seven assists in the 2024 playoffs, capped by the Panthers’ seven-game Cup final win over the Oilers.
He scored in the final of the 4 Nations Face-Off — the first international tournament to feature NHL players since the 2014 Sochi Olympics — as Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in overtime.
Canada plays its first game of the 2026 Olympic tournament Feb. 12 against Czechia in Milan.
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