Seven players named to preliminary rosters for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 are part of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, including Oilers teammates Connor McDavid (Canada) and Leon Draisaitl (Germany), as well as Panthers forwards Aleksander Barkov (Finland), Sam Reinhart (Canada) and Matthew Tkachuk (USA). Click here for notes on all 72 players announced Monday. * The Stanley Cup will be in the building tonight as the Panthers aim to clinch a second straight championship and the Oilers try to keep it in its case – exactly 19 years after they won Game 6 of the 2006 Final, forcing Game 7 with a Jussi Markkanen shutout and Fernando Pisani game-winner.
* The first potential Cup-clinching game of the rematch starts at 8 p.m. ET on TNT, Max, truTV, Sportsnet, TVA Sports and CBC. Fans can get ready for puck drop with Stanley Cup Live presented by GEICO, at 6:30 p.m. ET on NHL.com and the NHL YouTube channel.
OLYMPIC-BOUND STARS SET FOR GAME 6 OF STANLEY CUP FINAL
Oilers teammates Connor McDavid (Canada) and Leon Draisaitl (Germany), as well as Panthers teammates Aleksander Barkov (Finland), Sam Reinhart (Canada), Matthew Tkachuk (USA), Uvis Balinskis (Latvia) and Nico Sturm (Germany) all were named Monday to preliminary rosters for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
REINHART WILL HAVE SHOT AT ’TRIPLE GOLD CLUB,’ MCDAVID HOPES TO AS WELL
Just like they did at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, Oilers forward Connor McDavid and Panthers forward Sam Reinhart will again team up on the international stage with the goal of bringing gold to back to Canada. Whether they each will be vying for the “Triple Gold Club” come next February will be determined either tonight or Friday.
* McDavid and Reinhart both won gold with Canada at the 2016 World Championship, alongside three other players in this series (Corey Perry, Calvin Pickard & Brad Marchand).
* Reinhart, of course, already has a Stanley Cup after scoring the clinching goal last year in Game 7 – which McDavid will need to help force once again to keep his “Triple Gold Club” hopes alive when the puck drops at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Feb. 11.
* Reinhart and fellow Olympic-bound forward Brayden Point each have a Cup-clinching goal – which has been scored by a Canadian in six of the past 10 seasons. Reinhart is currently one of five players named to preliminary rosters who has a shot at entering the “Triple Gold Club” at Milano Cortina 2026.
* A Canadian has captained the Stanley Cup champion in seven of the past 10 seasons, with McDavid aiming to add his name to that list after falling just short during his Conn Smythe Trophy-winning performance in 2024.
* If McDavid and the Oilers manage to extend the series against the Panthers, the second straight Stanley Cup Final Game 7 between these clubs would mark career playoff game 97 for No. 97. It would mark just the third Stanley Cup Final Game 7 on Canadian soil in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) and second in Edmonton (1987; also 2011 in Vancouver). -16065410.png)
TKACHUK AND BARKOV SEEK ANOTHER CUP BEFORE OLYMPICS SEASON
Since becoming teammates in 2022-23, Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov have combined for 609 total points, helped Florida claim 185 victories (including 44 in the postseason), reach the Stanley Cup Final in all three seasons and claim the first championship in franchise history. Tkachuk and Barkov now have the club a win away from a repeat, ranking first and second on the team, respectively, in assists and among a group of five 20-point Panthers.
* Barkov is on the brink of becoming the first European to captain multiple Stanley Cup champions, after guiding a team that included four Finnish players last year – the most by any Cup winner in League history. Though he hasn’t scored a goal since Game 3 of the Conference Finals, Barkov has five assists since then – including the highlight-reel helper on the series-clinching goal against Carolina and 0-3—3 across the past two games versus Edmonton.
* Tkachuk shares the team lead with 22 points this postseason, the same total he co-led the Panthers with last year (alongside Barkov) and two shy of the career-high and team-best 24 he had during his first run to the Final with Florida in 2023.
DRAISAITL SEEKS GAME 7 FOR SHOT AT JOINING FATHER’S FORMER TEAMMATE
Leon Draisaitl is both the highest-scoring player in these playoffs – sharing the League lead with Connor McDavid at 33 points – and the highest-scoring German player in NHL history, with nearly double the point total of the next highest scorer in regular season and more than quadruple in the postseason.
* Draisaitl is set to make his first-ever appearance at the Winter Olympic Games, and will look to join future Germany teammate Nico Sturm by heading to Italy with a Stanley Cup in tow. Sturm won the Cup with Colorado in 2022 and has played 23 total games with Florida since being acquired March 6. 
* Draisaitl was part of the German roster that helped the team qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, sharing the tournament lead with five points at the 2017 Men’s Final Olympic Ice Hockey Qualification. He’ll aim to deliver another clutch performance to give himself a shot at mirroring a feat achieved 29 years ago by Uwe Krupp: score a Cup-clinching goal against Florida. Krupp and Draisaitl’s father, Peter, were teammates with Germany at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games – the first to include NHL players.
QUICK CLICKS
* Connor McDavid can’t rescue Oilers all by himself in Game 6, Final
* Aleksander Barkov ‘just has everything’ in latest Stanley Cup run for Panthers
* Oilers eager to get out of ‘another difficult spot’ in Game 6 of Stanley Cup Final
* Matthew Tkachuk ‘feeling the best I’ve felt’ for Panthers heading into Game 6 of Cup Final
* NHL in ‘really good spot’ with Olympics to follow Cup Final, 4 Nations Face-Off
