Unsettling update on Matthew Tkachuk’s return as Panthers open camp

Training camps have just opened, the 2025-26 season is just around the corner now and the Florida Panthers are beginning their three-peat bid for the Stanley Cup sans Matthew Tkachuk.

It was reported earlier this summer that Tkachuk is expected to miss the start of the season after undergoing surgery in the offseason. The gritty forward revealed after last season that he played in the playoffs despite having a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia on the same side.

Right after the Panthers’ Stanley Cup run, Tkachuk revealed he had been playing with a completely torn adductor muscle, ripped off the bone, along with a sports hernia on the same side. It had all started right before the 4-nations Face-Off and only got worse when he aggravated his status playing for Team USA.

Despite those injuries, Tkachuk played in all 23 of Florida’s playoff games, finishing as the team’s top scorer with 23 points, tied with Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe.

On Wednesday, more precise updates were provided on Tkachuk about his

return-to-play timeline when Panthers general manager Bill Zito commented on his return at the opening of training camp in Miami. With a worrisome lack of confidence, Zito stated that “Tkachuk should be out until December - but don’t hold me to that. “

The Panthers open training camp as the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions and they’ll take their first steps toward attempting to become the first team to win as many as three in a row since the New York Islanders won four straight championships from 1980-83.

Though with Tkachuk, and Tomas Nosek, who is also out long term due to injury and likely to miss months of actions, it could be much harder than previous years to make it happen.

An absence of that length for Tkachuk, lasting until Christmas, will be a significant challenge for the team, though the Cats could place him on LTIR, and get some room on the salary and be compliant.