2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Men’s Hockey: Sam Bennet replacing Anthony Cirelli on Team Canada

Team Canada has announced an injury replacement for the upcoming 2026 men’s Olympic hockey tournament, with Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett replacing Tampa Bay Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli.

Here’s what you need to know.

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Bennett replaces Cirelli

Cirelli was injured in Tampa Bay’s 6-5 shootout win over Boston in the Stadium Series on Sunday.

Lightning/Canada head coach Jon Cooper called the injury “kind of a stinger” after the game. On Tuesday Cooper described Cirelli’s status as “wait and see”.

The 28-year-old Cirelli, who has 15 goals and 35 points in 49 games this season, was expected to be a depth option for Canada as well as an important part of the penalty kill.

After being a key piece of Canada’s 4 Nations roster last year, Bennett was the most glaring commission when the Olympic roster was originally announced. Last year’s Conn Smythe Trophy winner is on pace to set a new career-high in points after producing 19 goals and 42 points in 55 games this season.

Bennett, 29, left Florida’s 5-3 loss against Buffalo on Monday with an upper-body injury, however it is not considered serious.

Milan Olympics

Team Canada is less than two weeks away from their Olympic-opener against Czechia on Feb. 12.

Canada is the gold medal favourite at +115, followed by the United States (+200) and Sweden (+625). Canada is also -400 to win Group A and -625 to win a medal.