Matthew Tkachuk holds the Florida Panthers hopes in his stick. However, he’s dealing with a torn adductor muscle and also a sports hernia suffered during the 4 Nations Face-Off. It’s been months with these injuries and he faces a tough choice now.
However, as the player told ESPN, he is still ’50-50′ on whether he gets surgery or not. “If I do get the surgery, it’ll definitely be the first two or maybe three months (of the 2025-26 season) if that’s the case. But it’s still undecided at this point,” he said.
However, the decision may very well impact Tkachuk’s career. The recovery of each injury is very different. If he doesn’t get surgery, he might play with pain as he did on the Stanley Cup playoffs. He missed plenty of NHL‘s games last season, but he managed to get back for the postseason.
Tkachuk is the face of the Panthers
The 27-year-old is a two-time All Star in the NHL. Last season, the forward played only 52 games due to these injuries. He scored 57 points with 22 goals and 35 assists.
Matthew Tkachuk during the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers star could miss the start of the upcoming season due to potential surgery.
He distributed his goals evenly, as 11 of them came on power plays and 11 on even strength. He definitely left all on the ice but he might feel like he could’ve done more. In the end, this is a career-low for games played in nine seasons. Tkachuk is a total warrior.
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Tkachuk and the Panthers are in for the long run
Florida has Tkachuk’s services secured for the future. He has played three seasons for the Panthers and has solidified himself as a star so much, that he will be the cover of NHL 26’s videogame.
Tkachuk has a contract all the way through the 2029-30 season. He is also earning an average annual value of $9.5 million. This can come as a bargain as he is the 16th highest-paid forward in the NHL.
