SUNRISE, Fla. -- Matthew Tkachuk said Sunday that he still does not know when he will rejoin the Florida Panthers lineup, but that day is getting closer.
That could come on Florida’s six-game road trip that begins Tuesday at the Toronto Maple Leafs and ends Jan. 17 at the Washington Capitals.
“This is going to be my first road trip of the year,’’ Tkachuk said during the first intermission of Florida’s game against the Colorado Avalanche at Amerant Bank Arena.
“Whether I’m playing on the six-game road trip, it would probably be toward the end of it just because I am still in the noncontact jersey. I don’t even have a target right now, but it will be nice to be back on the road again, get back in the routine.’’
The forward has missed the entirety of the season after having surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia on Aug. 22. The forward has been skating with the Panthers at practice in a noncontact jersey for the past week and says he needs a few full-contact practices to be ready to play.
Tkachuk was injured in February playing for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
He missed the final 25 games of the regular season but returned for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tkachuk played in all 23 of Florida’s playoff games and tied for the team lead with 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) to help the Panthers win their second straight Stanley Cup championship.
Throughout the playoffs, Tkachuk said he was feeling good and playing without much pain.
That, he said Sunday, was not completely true.
“I’m sure I lied-slashed-fibbed to you a few times in the spring saying I was feeling good and probably wouldn’t need surgery,’’ Tkachuk said. “I knew in the back of my mind that it was ultimately going to have to happen. … But it has been a few months now, every box has been checked with the last one being taking off the noncontact jersey which, we have another couple skates here and we will figure it out from there.’’
Tkachuk said he opted out of having surgery when he was initially injured because he wanted the chance to help his team win the Stanley Cup for a second consecutive time.
“I would have got the surgery last year in February or March if I didn’t think we had a chance,’’ Tkachuk said. “I wouldn’t change it for the world, lucky to have our team’s name on the Cup one more time. It was all worth it.’’
The Panthers could certainly use Tkachuk back in the lineup with their long injury list. The Panthers are 22-16-3, going 10-4-2 in their past 16 games.
Tkachuk is likely the first of Florida’s players with long-term injuries to return. That list includes captain Aleksander Barkov (knee), forwards Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Tomas Nosek (knee), and Cole Schwindt (broken arm), and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder).
Defenseman Seth Jones was injured Friday in the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic with Maurice saying his status is up in the air until Jones visits a doctor on Monday.
“I have been going pretty hard now for a month, month and change, by myself,’’ Tkachuk said of his rehabilitation. “It has been way easier to be out there with the guys. You forget what it’s like to have a stick on puck, or a body in the lane, or the quick 2-on-1. That’s why we’re starting to mix in a little bit of pushing, but once guys are able to bump into me and hit me, it will feel more real.’’
Tkachuk had surgery in August with the thought his healing timeline would bring him back to the Panthers in January and again play for the United States at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Sunday, he said it would only take a few games to be ready to go.
“I’m a Florida Panther right now, and on Feb. 5, I will be a member of Team USA,’’ Tkachuk said. “It’s pretty hard not to think about it when you start to see the rest of the team being announced, but [Florida] needs every point we can get right now. I’m a Florida Panthers. That’s my team. But for 2 1/2-3 weeks, I’ll be on another team.’’
Those who are injured spend home game nights working out in the team’s gym at the arena with coach Paul Maurice marveling at the push-up competition his players have started.
Having Tkachuk on the ice has been good for the Panthers in just seeing a light at the end of a very long injury tunnel.
“It’s just nice for the players to see,” Maurice said. “Matthew is moving; that’s a big boost to us in practice. There’s way more chirping. There’s way more talking.”
