Jan 06, 2026
3 min read
SUNRISE, Fla. - The Florida Panthers will be on the road Monday. Matthew Tkachuk will be on a plane for the first time this season.
His uniform is coming again for the trip.Time will tell if it will be used or not.
Tkachuk said Sunday that he has a soft target for what will be his debut game this season.He wouldn't say what he's aiming for, but since he'll be on the road, it's reasonable to think Tkachuk — who had surgery in August to repair a torn adductor and sports hernia — could be in the lineup sometime during this six-game stretch.
"All the boxes have been checked so far, and the last thing we need to do before we play is take off the no-contact jersey," Tkachuk said after completing a workout Sunday. The Panthers played the Colorado Avalanche, a 2-1 win over Florida."We're going to have a few skates here and some people are making calls and figuring it out from there, but we're feeling pretty good right now."
Tkachuk returned to team practice last week while wearing a yellow no-touch jersey.At least a few weeks earlier, he had been skating on his own as part of his recovery from surgery.
Tkachuk hasn't played since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, when the Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers again to win their second straight title.He spent the summer rehabbing, but ultimately decided he needed surgery, knowing the first few months of the season would cost him.
"Patience was tested," said Tkachuk."However, I think I made that decision in late February or early March and took it out and signed it."
The road trip begins Tuesday in Toronto and will consist of six games — the Panthers will return home for a few days of rest on the road — and includes games in Montreal, Ottawa, Buffalo, Carolina and Washington.
After the Panthers won their second straight Stanley Cup in June, Tkachuk revealed the severity of the injuries he sustained while playing for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. He missed the final 25 games of the regular season but returned for Game 1 of the Panthers’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
He had 23 points - eight goals and 15 assists - in 23 playoff games, including seven in the Stanley Cup Finals.To win the Cup, he said, he played because of an injury.
"I wouldn't change it for the world," Tkachuk said."I'm lucky to have our team's name on the trophy after a while."
And while his focus is primarily on the Panthers now, he admitted he can't stop thinking about the opportunity to wear USA Hockey colors again at next month's Milan-Cortina Olympics.
"We need every point we can get right now, and I'm a Florida Panther. This is my team right now," Tkachuk said.
The Panthers have been without key players all season, including captain Aleksandr Barkov, guard Dmitry Kulikov and now linebacker Seth Jones — who was injured in the Winter Classic on Friday, sat out Sunday's games against Colorado and Florida, and will get word on his return schedule Monday.
Barkov — "a freak of nature," Tkachuk said — tore his ACL in October, but has been hot on skates and could return at some point this season.Tkachuk looked his best in a few weeks.He also thanked the team for keeping the Panthers in the playoffs.
"I don't look at it like they're treading water. I think they played amazing hockey," Tkachuk said."I mean, it's hard to do with a lot of guys outside the lineup and the depth is tested. And they passed the test, I think. What they managed to do is pretty impressive."
