A new NHL season is quickly approaching, and that means a new video game will be released by EA Sports. A full reveal for the game will take place later this week, but EA has wasted no time revealing just who will appear on the cover of NHL 26. For this year’s game, Matthew Tkachuk will adorn the cover, and the image revealed by EA shows the Florida Panthers star hoisting the Stanley Cup. Given Tkachuk’s role in the Cup win at the end of the previous NHL season, it certainly makes a lot of sense.
Unfortunately, EA has not revealed any additional details about this year’s game. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait too much longer for more information; we should be getting a lot more details about NHL 26 on Wednesday, August 6th. In fact, EA already has a placeholder up on YouTube for the reveal trailer. That could give us an idea of what improvements to expect over last year’s game, as well as what specific platforms will be supported. NHL 25 was released on just PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, but it’s possible we could see more options this year, such as a version for Nintendo Switch 2.
While Tkachuk makes a lot of sense based on his performance last season, there is something bittersweet about it for fans of the Florida Panthers. Tkachuk is expected to miss quite a few games this year, due to injury. The Panthers alternate captain played a pivotal role in the team’s Stanley Cup victory, scoring what proved to be the game winning goal in a 5-1 victory against the Edmonton Oilers. Afterwards, Tkachuk revealed that he was playing through some serious injuries, and there’s a lot of speculation about just how much he’ll be playing in the 2025-2026 NHL season.
It’s not unusual for bad things to befall the cover athletes for EA Sports games; the so-called “Madden Curse” has unintentionally foreshadowed a lot of NFL injuries in past years, though that seems to have been broken. Typically, the cover athletes for NHL games have fared much better. However, the cover for NHL 26 might be a rare case of something bad happening long before the cover was even revealed!
Hopefully NHL 26 will be able to deliver the kind of hockey experience fans have been craving. Last year’s game left a lot of players unhappy, and the announcements on Twitter and YouTube are already filled with players concerned about what kind of quality can be expected from the next game. Wednesday could offer an opportunity for the developers to show how things are improving, and some potential changes that can be expected. As some have pointed out, there really aren’t a lot of other hockey options on the market right now to choose from, so many are pinning their hopes on EA.
What do you think of this pick for the cover athlete? What NHL star would you like to see get the cover in the future? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
The post NHL 26 Reveals This Year’s Cover Athlete appeared first on ComicBook.com.