Matthew Tkachuk will make his season debut for the Florida Panthers when they host the San Jose Sharks at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Monday (6 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, NBCSCA).
The forward, who has yet to play this season after having surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia on Aug. 22, took the ice in a regular jersey during the morning skate Monday on a line with Mackie Samoskevich and Evan Rodrigues.
“I’m feeling great," Tkachuk said after morning skate. “Just so excited to be back. It has been a little over five months since the surgery, so I have just been champing at the bit to come back. Really happy the day is finally here.
“I’m here to be a hockey player, not to cheer from the sidelines. I am here to be competing with the guys. It’s not like I can dip my toe like it is the preseason or even the beginning of a season like past years. I told them I am coming back. Throw me in the fire.”
Tkachuk traveled with the Panthers for their six-game road trip, which ended on Saturday, but he did not play. It was the first time he traveled with them this season.
His return is a boon for Florida (25-19-3), which has a long list of injured players, headlined by captain Aleksander Barkov, out for the regular season with a knee injury. The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions entered Monday four points behind the Buffalo Sabres for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
“They have been incredible; it has been seven, eight guys at some point going down at the same time, which is never easy,” Tkachuk said. “They have done a great job staying in the fight. With that being said, we have to go on a run here. We have got to get back into a playoff spot. We’re not happy being out of the playoffs, but these guys have done an amazing job staying in the fight.”
The Panthers are also without defenseman Seth Jones, who is week to week after an upper-body injury sustained during the Winter Classic on Jan. 2.
Forward Brad Marchand, who hasn’t played since Jan. 6 because of an undisclosed injury, was also on the ice Monday but will miss his sixth straight game.
Tkachuk, who was named to Team USA’s roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 next month, was initially injured at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February, missing the final 25 games of the regular season. He returned for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Tampa Bay Lightning and played all 23 games of the Panthers’ run to their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship. He had 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists).
“He’s in, he’s ready to play,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “So, we’re happy to have him back. The overall picture is very important; the dynamic of the power play changes, how we control the puck, the number of plays that we compete in.
“It is his first game after 6 1/2 months, so we’ll see. But we know he will get back to it.”
