When designing the jerseys for the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic, Dom Fillion knew he wanted to tell a story.
Specifically, he wanted to incorporate history and nostalgia, themes that blend right into the marquee matchup between the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers at loanDepot Park in Miami on Jan. 2 (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SNW, SNO, SNE, TVAS).
It will be the first outdoor NHL game in the state of Florida, but it won’t be the only one, with the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning set to play the Navy Federal Credit Union 2026 Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Feb. 1.
Fillon said the Winter Classic’s long history — the first took place in 2008 — called for the old-school approach.
“The Winter Classic is such an amazing event,” Fillion, senior creative director and vice president of design at Fanatics, told NHL.com. “It’s very nostalgia-driven.”
Buy tickets to the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic
Fillion faced a unique challenge in designing the Winter Classic sweaters, which the NHL released on Wednesday.
On one hand, he was designing a jersey for a Rangers franchise that is celebrating its Centennial season. On the other, he was putting together a look for a Panthers franchise that began play in 1993, just 32 years ago.
For the Panthers jersey, to fit into the vintage look, Fillion reinvented the “leaping panther” logo to use as the crest. He took the classic design and added a nostalgic flair with felt and chain stitching to make it look like it was originally used in the 1920s or 1930s, rather than the 1990s.
“What would that leaping panther look like if the Florida Panthers were a franchise that has 100-year-old history?” Fillion said.
To find that specific look, Fillion worked closely with the Viola family, which owns the Panthers, going back and forth with the family to make sure the design felt right.
“They wanted to be at the table,” Fillion said. “They had some very powerful thoughts.”
The result is the vintage take on the classic logo, featured prominently on the front of the dark, crimson-colored jersey.
Fillion also added in decorative stitching and other features to salute Florida’s military history, another way of hitting on the nostalgia theme.
“We wanted to pay homage to Florida’s hockey history and some of the local military history,” Fillion said.
In contrast to the Panthers jersey being designed almost from scratch, the Rangers’ Winter Classic look is more of an extension of the Centennial jerseys that the team has worn this season.
Fillion described it as an “additional element” of the Centennial jersey, complementing the previous Centennial design.
The front of the white Winter Classic sweater reads, “New York” in diagonal lettering instead of the blue Centennial jersey’s “Rangers” lettering, and the white color, rather than the dark blue, honors the franchise’s traditional light jersey.
“We always keep in mind the setting, the environment, the stage,” Fillion said. “And ultimately, we want each team to feel unique and respectful to their brand, their identity, their history and heritage.”
The jerseys and additional Winter Classic merchandise will hit shelves Thursday and be available across the Fanatics network of sites, as well as at the Panthers and Rangers team stores and the flagship NHL Shop in New York City.
“[The jerseys] both have [a] great narrative, and I think complementary together they’re going to look tremendous on the ice,” Fillion said.
“The [Winter Classic] environment is always so magical. And it’s going to be a snow globe in South Florida and it’s going to be pretty amazing.”
