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Christopher Boan is a reporter and writer with BetCanada.com. He's covered the gambling industry for nearly a decade, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly, and the Green Valley News.
NHL 26 Cover: How NHL Players Fare After Appearing On Video Game Cover
On Monday, Florida Panthers star forward Matthew Tkachuk was named the main cover athlete for the NHL 26 video game. As is often the case, there is an alternate cover for the deluxe edition – this one featuring Tkachuk, his brother Brady (Ottawa Senators) and their father, longtime NHL player Keith.
To get a sense of how other recent stars have fared after being on the EA Sports “NHL” video game cover, BetCanada.com – where we offer the best Canada sports betting promo codes – broke down the numbers, showing that others in Tkachuk’s skates have done well the following season.
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How NHL Cover Athletes Have Done In Past 10 Years
Game | On Cover | Stats That Season |
NHL 25 | D Quinn Hughes, Canucks* | 16 G, 60 A, 76 Pts, +2 rating |
NHL 24 | D Cale Makar, Avalanche | 21 G, 69 A, 90 pts, +15 |
NHL 23 | C Trevor Zegras, Ducks^ | 23 G, 42 A, 65 Pts, -24 |
NHL 22 | C Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs | 60 G, 46 A, 106 Pts, +20, Hart Trophy |
NHL 21 | LW Alex Ovechkin, Capitals | 24 G, 18 A, 42 Pts, -7 |
NHL 20 | C Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs | 47 G, 33 A, 80 Pts, +19 |
NHL 19 | D P.K. Subban, Predators | 9 G, 22 A, 31 Pts, +5 |
NHL 18 | C Connor McDavid, Oilers | 41 G, 67 A, 108 Pts, +20, Ross Trophy |
NHL 17 | RW Vladimir Tarasenko, Blues | 39 G, 36 A, 75 Pts, -1 |
NHL 16 | C Jonathan Toews, Blackhawks | 28 G, 30 A, 58 Pts, +16 |
*Shared with brothers Luke and Jack (Devils) in deluxe edition
^Shared with Sarah Nurse of the women’s Canadian National Team
Data courtesy of USA Today and Hockey-Reference.com
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How Have NHL Cover Athletes Fared?
In the past 10 years, dating back to NHL 16 (which featured then-Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews on the cover) players that were spotlighted for the EA Sports mainstay have shined by and large as the sport’s video game emissary.
The famed “Madden Curse” – a fabled trend of player performances falling off after they appear on the cover for the NFL video game series – seems to have little or no equivalent in hockey.
In fact, anybody monitoring NHL MVP odds for the Hart Trophy in 2025-26 will see a gallery of stars in the list of previous NHL video game cover selections.
Two of those athletes, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, went on to win NHL awards the year after they were the EA Sports cover star. Both posted plus/minus ratings of better than plus-20 as McDavid won his second straight Art Ross Trophy in 2017-18 and Matthews’ on-ice skill helped him win the Hart Trophy during the 2021-22 season.
Of the past 10 men to be featured on the “NHL” cover, Matthews and McDavid had the best year-end rating the following season, while Matthews’ 60-goal spurt during the 2021-22 season was the most by a cover athlete since “NHL 16” was released in the Unites States and Canada.
The trend for Canada sports betting is not always a big boost, though, and some have even put an “NHL cover curse” theory out into the world, similar to its NFL counterpart.
The cover stars to post a negative plus/minus rating the following season were Anaheim Ducks center Trevor Zegras (minus-24, which was understandable on an Anaheim team that finished last in the NHL in points in 2022-23), Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (minus-7 in 2020-21) and Vladimir Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues (minus-1 in 2018-19).
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cole Makar was the cover athlete with the most assists the year after being featured as the game’s video game ambassador, tallying 69 during the team’s 2023-24 campaign. McDavid had 67 helpers in 2017-18 and Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes was the only other player to reach the 60-assist mark, which he hit on the number in 2024-25.
McDavid’s 108 points in 2017-18 were the most of the cover athletes surveyed for our story over the past decade, with Matthews (106) close behind in the first season after his appearance (he’s the lone player to be on the cover twice in the past decade).
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How Matthew Tkachuk Landed NHL 26 Cover
As for the talisman of the two-time reigning champion and Stanley Cup odds favorite for 2025-26?
Tkachuk has two 100-point seasons in his nine-year NHL career – a 109-point run with the Panthers in 2022-23 and 104 notched with the Calgary Flames in 2021-22.
To date, Tkachuk has averaged 81 points per season in his 642-game run in the NHL, with an 82-game aggregate of 31 goals and 81 assists with the Flames and Panthers. If trends hold in the upcoming season with Florida, that would give him the fourth highest year-end total of hockey cover athletes surveyed.
Luckily for Tkachuk and the Panthers, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champs enter the 2025-26 season as the odds-on favorite to “three-peat.” Pinnacle Sportsbook Canada lists the Eastern Conference stalwarts at +602 odds, as of Aug. 12, to win it all again in 2026. That ranks ahead of the Oilers (+742), Carolina Hurricanes (+802), Avalanche (+905) and Dallas Stars (+1000) in the 32-team league.
USA Today photo by Sam Navarro
NHL 26 Video Game Cover Q&A
The “NHL cover athlete curse” is a fan theory suggesting that NHL players who appear on EA Sports’ NHL video game covers see a drop in performance or bad luck in the following season. It’s supposed to be a parallel to the famed “Madden Curse” in the NFL, but even if you believe in curses, this one doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Some examples – such as Trevor Zegras’ minus-24 plus/minus rating for the last-place Ducks after he was on the cover of NHL 23 – might feed the narrative. But stars such as Auston Matthews (NHL 20 and 22) and Cale Makar (NHL 24) had strong seasons after their cover appearances, proving that the “curse” is far from guaranteed.
NHL 26 features Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk as the main cover athlete, with the deluxe edition showcasing Tkachuk alongside his brother Brady (Ottawa Senators) and their father Keith. Coming off another productive season, Matthew Tkachuk will look to lead the Panthers deep into the playoffs again, while fans watch closely to see if his performance follows the hot streak of recent cover stars such as Cale Makar or Auston Matthews.