These 3 ideas for EA Sport's NHL 26 cover athlete would have changed everything

EA Sports and the NHL have announced that Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk is the official cover athlete for the upcoming video game NHL 26, but he was not the only viable choice to be recognized on the most popular hockey game in the world.

The deluxe edition will be a family affair, similar to the special version of NHL 25 which had all three Hughes brothers appear on the cover. This year's game will feature all three NHLers from the Tkachuk family: Stanley Cup-winner Matthew, Ottawa Senators captain Brady, and their father Keith who played 18 years in the big league.

But several major superstars were overlooked for this honor, and there were potentially some missed opportunities at play. There's also the perennial problem with every iteration of the NHL video games, which is that some fans avoid purchasing it because of their dislike for the cover athlete. That's perhaps an unavoidable minority, but all of this leads to the question: how could EA Sports please the fans more when it comes to choosing the face of the game?

Fan vote for NHL 26 cover athlete

One of the obvious solutions to the problem of having a divisive choice for cover athlete is to leave it up to the people who will actually be purchashing the product. Giving more power to the fans would cause a skyrocket in hype surrounding the game, and would leave more gamers feeling satisfied at the end of the day.

EA Sports used to hold an annual fan vote, resulting in the popular choices of Claude Giroux for NHL 13, Martin Brodeur for NHL 14, and Patrice Bergeron for NHL 15. However, they did away with the process for NHL 16 and beyond.

We all know that a large number of NHL viewers love a fan vote. It was on display for the All-Star Games in 2015 and 2016, when Zemgus Girgensons and John Scott were write-ins to attend the star-studded event despite their lack of accolades. That became a source of social media buzz which led to the most-watched All-Star Game ever at the time it aired in 2016.

EA Sports might be trying to avoid a similar trend of fans hijacking the vote, so instead, they could have presented a pool of five players that would be popular choices for the cover of NHL 26. Say they published a list including guys like Tkachuk, Sergei Bobrovsky, Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin, and a dark horse candidate like Connor Bedard. Not only would that drum up more media and excitement surrounding the announcement, but it would help appeal to fans who feel like the game has stagnated over the years.

Dual-athlete cover featuring two all-time legends

As we approach the 2025-26 NHL season, it marks a significant milestone for some of the league's most iconic skaters as Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby are entering the 20th year of their careers.

Especially on the heels of Ovechkin's record-breaking performance to pass Wayne Gretzky as the league's all-time leading goal scorer, it would have been the perfect opportunity to recognize the impact he and Crosby have had on the NHL over the past two decades.

Anyone who was around for the early days of Sid the Kid vs. the Great 8 would know that there was a heated rivalry between the two. Having both athletes on the cover would undoubtedly inspire nostalgia for long-time fans.

Some might argue that they don't want to see duplicate covers, but Ovechkin has only been featured on NHL 07 and NHL 18 while Crosby shockingly has never been the face of the game. Now would have been the perfect time to give a nod to both of these future Hall of Famers.

Honoring Johnny Gaudreau

After his tragic death one year ago, many fans were hoping that EA Sports would do something to honor Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, who were struck by a drunk driver last August.

Some people woud surely view this as EA "cashing in" on tragedy, so opinions on this are somewhat divided, but offering a special edition cover that would honor both Gaudreau brothers would have been a classy gesture to honor their memory. Even a feature on the main loading screen would suffice -- that way, there's no discourse about making money off of the devastating event, but they're still immortalized in the video game.

After all, Johnny was one of the top 10 highest rated wingers in the game back in NHL 24, with a strong rating of 89 overall. He was an elite skater right in his prime, and it would make sense for EA Sports to want to commemorate his impressive NHL career.

Had the publisher decided to go with any one of these ideas, it could have resulted in more popularity for the game and more satisfaction among its buyers.