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NHL Notebook: Matthew Tkachuk undergoes surgery, could be out until January
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Photo credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
Cam Lewis
Aug 23, 2025, 11:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 23, 2025, 12:29 EDT
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Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk is expected to miss the start of the 2025-26 season after undergoing surgery, per The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta.
The 27-year-old had been weighing his options after gutting through the playoffs and it sounds like he’s opted for the long fix. There’s no firm timeline, but Pagnotta notes the recovery could push into January.
The gritty winger was injured while representing the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, playing just under seven minutes in the team’s 3-2 overtime loss to Canada in the championship game. Tkachuk missed the remainder of the regular season and joined the Panthers for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Even at less than 100 percent, Tkachuk still posted 23 points in 23 playoff games and was a constant problem in the Final against the Oilers, chipping in three goals and seven points. Following Florida’s second Stanley Cup victory, Tkachuk revealed that he was dealing with a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia.
A 2016 first-round pick of the Flames, Tkachuk has almost single-handedly dragged Florida from irrelevant to perennial contender since arriving via trade in 2022. Through 642 NHL games over nine years with Calgary and Florida, he has 240 goals and 636 points, plus 32 goals and 84 points in 94 playoff games across seven trips.
The Panthers largely kept their championship core intact this summer, signing Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, and Sam Bennett to long-term extensions while swapping Nate Schmidt for Jeff Petry on defense and Vitek Vanecek for Daniil Tarasov in goal. With Tkachuk out for an extended period of time, Florida also inked forward Luke Kunin to a one-year deal.

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