Florida Panthers fans will have to wait a bit longer to see Matthew Tkachuk back on the ice. The star forward is expected to return around “December-ish,” according to Panthers GM Bill Zito.
Tkachuk underwent surgery in late August for injuries that turned out to be more serious than initially reported – a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia on the same side of his body.
“I wanted to throw in the towel a bunch of times,” Tkachuk admitted to TNT’s Darren Pang, revealing just how tough the injuries were to play through.
Despite the pain, he managed to gut it out during the Panthers’ Stanley Cup run last season. His performance was nothing short of remarkable – putting up 23 points with 8 goals and 15 assists in the playoffs, tying teammates Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe for the team lead.
The injuries actually kept him out of the final 25 regular-season games. But you’d never know it watching him in the postseason as Florida defended their title.
Zito stressed that the December timeline is more of a hopeful target than a firm date, according to team reporter Jessica Blaylock.
Looking further ahead, there’s good news for Team USA fans. Bill Guerin, who’s managing the American squad for the 2026 Olympics, expects to have Tkachuk ready to go. It’ll be the first Olympics with NHL players since the 2014 Sochi Games.
Tkachuk’s Olympic spot seems secure – he was already named as one of Team USA’s “first six” players back in June, alongside his brother Brady Tkachuk, Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy.
