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Matthew Tkachuk is going to have a lot of free time at the beginning of the season (and possibly all of it) as he recovers from off-season surgery. The good news is that he can kill some of that time playing as himself in NHL26, the latest edition of EA Sports iconic video game. Tkachuk was revealed to be the cover athlete on Monday.
He’s a tone-setter, a leader, and now a cover star. Matthew Tkachuk is the face of #NHL26. See the full reveal August 6th: http://spr.ly/6013fdbhx
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To the victors go the spoils.
Tkachuk is the second Panther to receive cover honors for the NHL franchise, following John Vanbiesbrouck all the way back in 1997. That ties the number of Lightning players that have made the cover as Vincent Lecavalier was on the front of NHL06 and Steven Stamkos was the choice for NHL12.
A full game trailer will be released on Wednesday.
The 2025 Top 25 Under 25 [Raw Charge]
It’s one of our favorite times of the year – Top 25 Under 25 voting! You get a chance to rank the Lightning’s prospect as the voting heads into the second day.
Do you know who the first player that finished second in Raw Charge’s first Top 25 Under 25 history? It’s The Big Swede! We ran the first countdown in season during the 2013-14 season and Victor Hedman nabbed the second spot. What did we have to say about him back then?
“His biggest flaw this season, and the only real thing holding him back from being the Norris front-runner (besides lack of national media coverage of the Lightning, which is another story entirely) is that Jon Cooper wasn’t using him on the power play at all for the first third of the season. That said, his outstanding 5v5 scoring has nearly pulled him into this race, and it deserves to be acknowledged.”
Who will claim the number two spot this summer? It’s up to you, so go vote!
Bolts Brew Fest Photos [Creative Loafing]
The folks over at CL captured the action over at the Bolts Brew Fest over the weekend. Denis Phillips was there!
Islanders sign top draft pick [Eyes on Isles]
There will be no worries about the top pick of the draft holding out. Matthew Schaefer has put pen to paper and will be in New York for their training camp this fall. It’s the first step for the dynamic defenseman to debuting in the NHL this season. The team still has the option of sending him to his junior team, the Erie Otters, if he struggles in camp.
Jimmy Vesey heads east [GSHC.ch]
For those that might not remember Jimmy Vesey was Isaac Howard before Isaac Howard. Originally drafted by Nashville (in the third round) Vesey didn’t sign with his team and became an unrestricted free agent after winning the Hobey Baker Award. The Rangers eventually won the sweepstakes, signing him to an ELC. He never quite found his offensive game in the NHL and sailed around the league with stops in Buffalo, Toronto, and Vancouver among others. He proved himself to be a solid bottom-six forward eventually scoring 101 goals in 626 games. After not finding any NHL suitors this summer he’ll head to Geneve-Servette in the Swiss league to continue his professional career.
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