Devastating update on Matthew Tkachuk on Friday.

The Florida Panthers will be without one of their star forwards for a significant portion of the season.

Earlier this month, Matthew Tkachuk confirmed that surgery was still an option heading into the 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season, and unfortunately it now appears that the surgery option was an inevitable one.

According to a report from NHL insider David Pagnotta, Tkachuk has gone under the knife for surgery. Furthermore, Pagnotta reports that this decision could keep Tkachuk out of the lineup for what remains of 2025, predicting that Tkachuk could be out until at least some time in January.

While that seems like that may be a doomsday scenario, it actually lines up with what Tkachuk said himself of his recovery should he be forced to go the route of surgery. Tkachuk, who made the comments several weeks ago now, admitted that he would likely miss the first several months of the season if surgery were to prove necessary.

"If I do get the surgery, it'll definitely be the first two or maybe three months if that's the case," said Tkachuk. "But it's still undecided at this point."

Unfortunately that decision has now been made and fans should not expect to see Tkachuk any time soon this upcoming season. A huge bummer for both fans who love to cheer for him and for those who love to cheer against him as well.

I wish Matthew Tkachuk a full and speedy recovery from his injuries.