The Florida Panthers are struggling to start the season, sitting at 8-7-1, outside of the playoff picture. Two key injuries have hampered the two-time defending champions. Captain Aleksander Barkov is likely out for the season after a training camp injury. But Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk will start skating amid his adductor injury and sports hernia, per head coach Paul Maurice.
“We're looking for him to hit the ice in the next two weeks,” Maurice said, per George Richards of NHL.com.
“There is this block of healing time where they are not doing much,” Maurice said of all of his injured players. “They are moving, in the gym, sort of doing basic stuff. Then, there comes a day when the doctor says, ‘Now you can go. Now you can start progressing.' How fast they get back to playing after that will be conditioning. … once they hit the ice, then will we have a better idea.”
The Panthers have won two consecutive Stanley Cups and been to the Stanley Cup Final in three consecutive years since Tkachuk joined. His hard-nosed style fit perfectly with Maurice's style, bringing them their first championships. He is expected to return before the Olympic break, where he is slated to represent Team USA.
The Panthers' struggles have a lot to do with their offense. Sam Bennett has been asked to slide up the lineup with Barkov out. The defending Conn Smythe winner has not scored at an elite rate, with just five points in 16 games. That has led to a sluggish start, but no one is running away from the pack in the Eastern Conference.
Tkachuk has made the most of his time on the shelf. He just released the first episode of his new podcast “Wingmen,” which he co-hosts with his brother, Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.
