April 22: As expected, Tkachuk is off LTIR ahead of tonight’s Game 1. He’s officially a game-time decision.
April 17: The Panthers will have all their injured players in the lineup for Game 1 of their first-round series against the Lightning, head coach Paul Maurice told reporters today (via George Richards of Florida Hockey Now). As such, star winger Matthew Tkachuk will come off long-term injured reserve in the next few days before Florida begins their Stanley Cup defense on Sunday or Monday.
Tkachuk, 27, will return to the Panthers’ lineup after a two-month absence. He missed the final 25 regular-season games due to a groin injury he sustained while playing for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The news is far from unexpected. Maurice said earlier this week that Tkachuk would return to practice with the team after skating on his own. He wouldn’t commit to Tkachuk being available for Game 1 but said his return would be early in the first round in a worst-case scenario. Now, it looks like he’ll be available as soon as the Cats hit the ice for the fourth Battle of Florida in the last five years. Maurice adds that Tkachuk won’t skate during Florida’s practice tomorrow but will do so Monday, indicating that’s when Game 1 will take place (via Colby Guy of The Palm Beach Post).
Florida underwhelmed without Tkachuk down the stretch, posting a 13-11-1 record and a plus-two goal differential coming out of the 4 Nations break. That was enough to keep them in the playoff race, but not enough to keep them atop the Atlantic Division, where they were tracking to finish for a good portion of the season. Instead, they were lapped by the Maple Leafs and Lightning and lost home-ice advantage in their matchup with the latter. Of course, Tkachuk wasn’t the only player missing for an extended stretch. Trade deadline pickup Brad Marchand and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov each missed more than four games at a time, and top right-shot defenseman Aaron Ekblad hasn’t been available since early March while serving a 20-game suspension for consuming a performance-enhancing substance. Of course, that discipline will keep him out for the first two games of the first round.
Before the injury, Tkachuk clinched his fourth consecutive season above a point per game. The 6’2″, 202-lb pot-stirrer posted 22-35–57 in 52 regular-season contests, leading the Panthers in points (1.10) and shot attempts (6.08) per game. Only one Florida skater shot at a higher rate than Tkachuk’s 14.1% – that was Sam Reinhart at 18.3%.
A minus-three rating indicates a poor defensive outing for Tkachuk at face value, but that’s not the case. He continued to boast elite two-way impacts, logging a 59.9 CF% and 58.6 xGF% at even strength. The former ranked second on the team behind Aleksander Barkov.
Of course, the two-time All-Star has been instrumental in Florida’s back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances. He’s scored 17-29–46 with a +12 rating in 44 postseason games as a Panther, ranking fourth in the NHL in playoff scoring over the last two seasons. They’ll look for a repeat performance, presumably in a familiar second-line role at even strength with Sam Bennett and ex-rival Marchand on his opposite wing, to help them get over the first-round hump against a highly formidable Tampa squad in their quest for a repeat.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro-Imagn Images.
Oh, what a shock lol! Like no one expected this, come on. But I do like how they say “all their injured” players. They can’t be that injured if all of them have been playing pretty much down the stretch here with the exception of Matthew Tkachuk who’s been recovering from a groin injury which definitely doesn’t heal in short order (I know that from experience & it doesn’t matter who you are). There is a strong possibility he’ll re-aggravate it during the playoffs.
Ha ha! You are just afraid this has tipped the balance and your beloved Bolts are now more likely to lose! LOL
I guess having Kuchey on LTIR all season and then coming back for the playoffs was “just fine”. LOL
Haha! Not afraid at all. I’m totally confident Tampa can beat Florida. Tampa is the most dangerous offensive team in the league (even Paul Maurice said it himself) & with Vasey looking back into his old form & getting into playoff mode then Florida will need all the help they can get.
The only concerns I have is Florida doing there dirty hits & cheap shots especially when they are losing as they intentionally try to injure players & the refs helping Florida like they did throughout the whole playoffs last year. The refs saved them ridiculously.
As for Kuch that season, he had hip replacement surgery as that’s far more serious than a groin injury lol. I’m not one to complain about teams using LTIR to use the cap to their benefit, it’s completely legal.
This comment didn’t age well lol
@jeremyn – Series is still going on & at least I pick a side unlike most who just bandwagon on here.
I live 5 minutes from the Panthers arena today.. I used to live 30 seconds from their practice facility and would have a field trip from my middle school to see them practice (literally in a shared parking lot lol)… I still call it the arena “The NCRC” which it hasn’t been called in 20 years… my target, imax movie theater, and mall are all right across the street… how close are you to downtown tampa where the lightning play (been there too) running your mouth like that?
I live 20 minutes or so from downtown Tampa. Running my mouth? Dude, everyone on here runs their mouths off. There is truth in what I said whether people want to accept it or not isn’t my problem.
running your mouth before knowing anything just makes an azz out of yourself
Seems that you have never participated in athletics. Hint: these guys regularly play through injuries.
Dude, I played more sports than you could possibly comprehend & I was quite good at it (could have gone professional but that’s another story). I know firsthand of playing through injuries so I know players play through injuries. You don’t need to tell me.
Smirk (eye roll)
Of course you could have gone pro. And I have multiple Cup rings. You don’t understand guys playing injured and now it seems that you don’t grasp that anonymous claims of your athletic greatness ring quite hollow. Play on.
Whatever dude, you don’t know me. I love people like you (sarcasm) who think you know it all & what everyone is capable of or not. I have no reason to lie to some internet basement dweller. So I can careless what you or whatever internet moron says. Just because you’re a loser, doesn’t mean everyone else is.
Of course I don’t know you. You’re another anonymous dude making up claims about past athletic greatness in a vain attempt to give a weak take some credibility. You might be lying or you might be telling the truth but doing it in anonymity puts you in line with about a billion others who have tried the same amusing trick, whether it be in athletics, academia, business, or pretty much any other field of endeavor. Unless you are willing to put some substance on the table, you are doing nothing but yapping aimlessly.
😃
@Kesler is Wilf – LOL! I guess you’re a simpleton or something here. First off, I don’t need to prove anything to you or anyone else for that matter on here as I don’t care what you or any internet keyboard warrior thinks in general. You said early on “I don’t understand guys play injured” but my entire point was I know guys play injured hence for me mentioning I’ve played sports. Apparently that’s “yapping” to you as my point went over your head obviously since common sense or just simple logic on your part is hard to grasp. You were more interested in just attacking like some internet troll, not surprised.
I was really good at floor hockey, probably could have made it to the NHL, but couldn’t skate on ice.
Oh, absolutely, because the transition from dominating the gym floor to gliding on ice is just a tiny, insignificant step. The NHL definitely missed out on a legend lol
Josh can you link FeeltheThunder’s eliteprospects page? Wanna see what type of numbers he was putting up
Who said anything about becoming pro specifically for the NHL?… I never did.
Pro Internet Troll?
Reminder that, as almost always, there is a very simple solution to a problem the NHL has ignored for years…
The cap stays in effect on a per game basis during the playoffs.
So even if a team builds a $125 million roster using LTIR, they can still only dress $88.5 or whatever the cap limit is at that point.
Teams can accomodate injuries without gaining competitive advantage which the salary cap is meant to eliminate. Problem solved.
Massive market team with unfair capital advantage loads up on extra players and rosters 2 different squads on alternating nights.
Fresh as daisies.
Or rusty as nails. I don’t think that would be a huge advantage. Would rather have guys who are dialed in vs in and out.
Can’t close every loophole, but close as many as you can and shrink the rest.