Marchand still hopes to represent Canada at 2026 Olympics 

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Brad Marchand is a strong candidate to play for Team Canada at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 despite not being one of its first six selected Monday.

That’s the message the Florida Panthers forward received from Canada general manager Doug Armstrong during a recent conversation. The men’s tournament will start with preliminary games Feb. 11, with the gold-medal game scheduled for Feb. 22.

“I talked to him just last week about how impressed we all are about how he’s playing,” Armstrong told NHL.com in a phone interview from his St. Louis-area home. “He’s playing fantastic.

“And he certainly, as I said to him, has every opportunity to make the Olympic team.”

A year ago, Marchand was among the first six named to Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, joining forwards Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers), Brayden Point (Tampa Bay Lightning), and defenseman Cale Makar (Avalanche).

But the 37-year-old was the only one of those not named to the Olympic roster Monday, his spot taken by Panthers teammate Sam Reinhart. Armstrong said Marchand’s age and health played a factor in the decision, along with Reinhart’s pedigree of being in the Stanley Cup Final the past three seasons with Florida.

After being picked for 4 Nations, Marchand had surgery three times last summer -- on his elbow for a torn tendon, his groin to address a sports hernia, and his abdominal area, also for a sports hernia. He didn’t look up to full speed during the tournament in February but still managed to score a goal and average 19:45 of ice time in four games.

Acquired in a trade with the Boston Bruins on March 7, Marchand has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) and is plus-18 in 22 Stanley Cup Playoff games entering Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC). The Panthers lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 and can repeat as champions with a victory.

All the while, Canada officials have been closely watching the performance of Marchand, a candidate to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs.

“He’s taken a young group with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen on his line, taken them under his wing, and they’ve had a massive effect -- not just on this series, but on the entire playoffs,” Armstrong said. “He was good at 4 Nations in a different role, and now he’s playing very good.

“He’s doing what we asked all the guys to do -- when the lights are the brightest, whether it’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, World Championships, whatever it may be, we want to see how guys perform. And he’s performing well above par right now.”

For his part, Marchand was very humble when discussing Canada’s roster for the Olympics with NHL.com on Tuesday, from Armstrong’s encouraging words about him, to Reinhart’s inclusion in the first six.

“It just shows a lot about (Armstrong’s) character that he would call me,” Marchand said. “He didn’t have to do that. He just wanted to let me know they were making a change in the top of the original six guys they were naming based with 4 Nations and now the Olympic team. But I mean, (Reinhart) was always going to be on that team; he’s an incredible person and player.

“Look, it’s the highest achievement you can have as a Canadian-born player, to be part of Team Canada. So yeah, it’s obviously a goal and something I’m going to shoot for.”

As such, Marchand said the eventual selection of the players chosen to fill out the roster in January will be based on much more than any performance this postseason.

“It’s still a long way away, right?” he said. “So, it doesn’t matter what’s said right now or how things play out right now -- it’s how you perform in the upcoming regular season. That’s what it comes down to.

“Obviously, that’s next year’s task and one of the goals on the docket. Obviously, there are a million players who could play on that team. Canada is so deep and has a tremendous amount of talent, so it’s going to be an uphill battle.”