The New York Rangers have a big old-school apple on their shoulder. The Florida Panthers have a hidden rat on their hem. Their 2026 NHL Winter Classic jerseys, created by Fanatics and released Wednesday, are also full of other surprises.
The 17th NHL Winter Classic will take place on January 2 at LoanDepot Park, home of the MLB’s Miami Marlins. It will make history as the first outdoor game in Florida and as the southernmost outdoor game ever played in the NHL. This is also the first time the Panthers have participated in a game in a stadium, making the second-year Utah Mammoth the only NHL team to never participate in a game.
The Panthers’ Winter Classic jersey references the team’s original “jumping panther” logo, but with a nostalgic twist. Dom Fillion, Fanatics creative director, said Florida’s owners had a lot of input into the design. He explained that the Viola family suggested taking the “Leaping Panther” logo and imagining what it would have looked like in the 1920s, so Fillion’s team created a hand-stitched logo to mimic the look of that era.
“We thought it was an incredible challenge,” Fillion said. “As you can imagine, there’s a lot of discussion, a lot of points of view when it comes to craftsmanship like this. But they had a very clear vision.”
The classic feel of the jersey has been enhanced with stripes on the sleeves and socks, and a darker shade of red than their traditional jerseys.
There is a patch on the shoulder featuring the Florida state flag and the team’s “walking panther” design. But the detail that might get the most attention is the silhouette of a rat on a fabric loop on the sweater’s hem — an Easter egg honoring the decades-old tradition of Panthers fans throwing plastic rats onto the ice.
The Rangers jerseys are part of the franchise’s 100th season celebration. They complement the blue Centennial jerseys they are wearing this season, although this one has “Rangers” diagonally across the chest while this one says “New York” instead. The off-white color found on their Centennial jersey is the dominant color of their Winter Classic look.
“We saw this as an opportunity to create a second chapter in the centennial story,” Fillion said. “New York has certainly been very consistent with its identity and its appearance. But I think there are still nuances to these historical elements that we can amplify a little more.”
An interesting element is the red apple found on the shoulder of the jersey. It was the Easter egg found on the hem of their Centennial jersey. It’s enlarged here and includes a modern “NYR” wordmark.
Fillion said the Fanatics team discovered the apple logo on an old Rangers practice jersey. “It’s about connecting with a historical element to create something unique,” he said. “When we presented it to Rangers, they were on board.”
The Winter Classic is one of two NHL stadium games to be played in Florida this season. The Tampa Bay Lightning will host the Boston Bruins on February 1 at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
