Panthers Activate Matthew Tkachuk, Place Seth Jones On LTIR
3 PM: The Panthers have made the roster moves to facilitate Tkachuk’s return. The star winger has been activated off of long-term injured reserve while defenseman Seth Jones has been placed on LTIR retroactive to his last game on January 2nd per PuckPedia. The move to LTIR will force Jones to miss at least one more week of action – as he won’t reach the 24-day minimum required by LTIR until January 26th. That means Jones will have to sit out of Florida’s next three games and hope for a return when the Panthers host the Utah Mammoth on January 27th.
9 AM: Star winger Matthew Tkachuk will be back in the lineup tonight, he told reporters this morning (including Jameson Olive of the Panthers’ website). Tkachuk is on long-term injured reserve, meaning Florida’s demotion of Noah Gregor today to open up a roster spot won’t be enough. Florida has just over $1MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, but needs to up that number to nearly $3.82MM to activate Tkachuk.
Nonetheless, all signs point toward the 28-year-old making his season debut at home this evening against the Sharks. His injury troubles date back to last February, when he tore an adductor muscle while playing for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off. He ended up missing the balance of the regular season to recover as much as possible without needing season-ending surgery. That permitted him to suit up in all 23 playoff games as Florida marched to the second of back-to-back Stanley Cups, still producing at a point-per-game rate and leading the league with five power play postseason goals despite being nowhere close to 100%.
Understandably, playing through the injury aggravated it. Tkachuk spent most of the offseason mulling his options before finally electing to undergo a wide-ranging surgery on the area in early August. There was a wide-spanning return timeline that was expected to see him make his 2025-26 debut around New Year’s Day, ideally in time for Florida’s hosting of the Winter Classic, but he ended up blowing through that target by a few weeks.
All that matters to the Cats is that he’s back now, especially with captain Aleksander Barkov likely lost for the regular season and top offensive threat Brad Marchand currently sidelined. He’s set to have his minutes limited in his return, taking third-line rushes this morning with Evan Rodrigues and Mackie Samoskevich, per Steve Goldstein of Scripps Sports. Historically, that hasn’t been an issue for him. In Game 1 of last year’s first-round win over the Lightning, his first appearance in over two months, he logged just 11:43 of ice time but was still good for a three-point game.
Tkachuk has been practicing for several weeks now, though. His return is far from rushed, so the diminished even-strength role from the hop likely has more to do with his game conditioning rather than his health being anything less than 100%. The 2023 Hart Trophy finalist now looks to extend his streak of four consecutive seasons above a point per game, with 35 games left on Florida’s schedule to do so.
Since the Panthers acquired Tkachuk from the Flames in the 2022 offseason’s blockbuster deal, he’s been the most productive Florida player on a per-game basis by a significant margin at 1.20 points/GP. That’s good for 10th in the league during that time – more than names like Jack Eichel, Jack Hughes, and Auston Matthews – and has even exceeded Pavel Bure as the Panthers’ all-time points-per-game leader, at least for now.
With Barkov and Tkachuk out all year to date, the Panthers have had to reach deep into their forward depth. That’s resulted in their offense, which has finished in the top half of the league every year since 2017-18, dipping to a 3.04 goals per game output that ranks 19th out of 32 teams and last in the competitive Atlantic Division. With Florida trailing the Sabres by four points for the last wild card spot with no games in hand, they need more firepower – now – to ensure they don’t miss the postseason cutoff following three straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final.
As for Florida’s salary cap problem, they have an easy short-term solution in moving defenseman Seth Jones from standard IR to LTIR to clear up the necessary space for Tkachuk’s activation. They can add $3.82MM of his $7MM cap hit to their LTIR pool by doing so, since he’s already missed seven games and 17 days – three and seven short of the LTIR minimums, respectively. Having the space to then activate Jones when he’s expected to return early next month remains a problem, though.
Atlantic Notes: Maple Leafs, Panthers, Bruins, Kesselring
The Toronto Maple Leafs could get a major boost to their goaltending on their upcoming road trip next week. According to David Alter of The Hockey News, Anthony Stolarz is nearing a return to the team and is expected to join them next week. It would be the first time the Maple Leafs have their normal goaltending duo available since November 11th.
Even before going down with an upper-body injury in mid-November, Stolarz didn’t look the same as he has in years past. He posted a 6-5-1 record in 13 games with a .884 SV% and 3.51 GAA. For comparison, with the Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, Stolarz managed a 37-15-5 record in 61 games with a .926 SV% and 2.10 GAA from 2023-24 to 2024-25.
Meanwhile, in a separate update from Alter, the Maple Leafs haven’t yet decided on the possibility of surgery for defenseman Chris Tanev. Sharing a statement from head coach Craig Berube, Alter quoted the coach saying, “Not yet. I’m sure that’ll be soon here about what he’s going to do.” The 16-year veteran has been ruled out with a groin injury since December 28th, with the rest of the 2025-26 season in doubt for him.
Additional notes from the Atlantic Division:
- The Florida Panthers are missing a pair of potential forward options for their game tonight against the Ottawa Senators. Before the game, team reporter Jameson Olive announced that Brad Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk would not participate in tonight’s contest. Tonight marks two games in a row missed by Marchand, who participated in the team’s practice this morning (X Link). Tkachuk has been rumored to return for the last little while now, recovering from an adductor surgery from the offseason.
- Despite putting up a 10-spot on the New York Rangers earlier today, the Boston Bruins had a few higher-level forwards leave relatively early into the contest. In separate announcements, the Bruins shared that Elias Lindholm had exited the contest with a lower-body injury, and Morgan Geekie departed to attend to a family matter. Despite leaving the game with an injury after 12:05 of ice time, Lindholm finished the contest with two assists.
- According to an article from Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald, defenseman Michael Kesselring should make a return to the Buffalo Sabres relatively soon. Regardless of his current health status, the 25-year-old blue liner can’t make his return to the Sabres lineup until next Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers due to the IR activation requirements. He went scoreless in 16 games before going down with a lower-body injury on January 6th.
Matthew Tkachuk To Join Panthers On Road Trip, Return Uncertain
The Florida Panthers could receive a superstar addition during their upcoming six-game road-trip through Canada and the American East Coast. Winger Matthew Tkachuk has been practicing with the club for the last week and has a loose target for his return – but hasn’t yet stepped up to full-contact practice – per David Dwork of The Hockey News. Tkachuk added that he may have stretched the truth when he returned from his injury for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tkachuk played in all 23 games of Florida’s run to a second consecutive Stanley Cup.
Tkachuk has taken a long road to recovery for a adductor injury sustained during the 2025 4-Nations Face-Off. He opted to undergo surgery early in September and had an estimated return of January, which he is on track to uphold with a return soon.
The Panthers have found their way to a successful record without Tkachuk and star two-way center Aleksander Barkov this season – but their absences have still been strongly felt. Florida ranks 15th in the NHL in goals scored after finishing first, sixth, and 11th in that mark over the last three seasons. Those finishes – and a dip outside of the top-10 last year – can be largely attributed to Tkachuk’s impact on the top line. The American star recorded 40 goals and 109 points in 79 games of the 2022-23 season, when Florida topped the league in goals. He followed that with 88 points in 2023-24, then 57 points in 52 games last year. All throughout, his mix of top-level skill and unrelenting grit have served to set the tempo of Florida’s forecheck.
Tkachuk didn’t seem to mind the injury in his brief return last season. He scored 23 points in the postseason, continuing a near-point-per-game streak that stretches back to the 2023 postseason. With three months of recovery under his belt, it seems the last step for Tkachuk will be to donn the full-contact jersey and boost his conditioning. The Panthers face tough competition throughout their upcoming road trip, including matchups against the Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, and Washington Capitals. Adding Tkachuk to the lineup against that level of competition would be a quick way to boost Florida’s odds of snapping a recent 2-3-1 skid.
Adding Tkachuk back to the lineup will likely knock Jack Studnicka back to the extra forward role. Studnicka has no points in 14 games this season and has received as few as four minutes of ice time while playing games from his bottom-line role. He’ll be a certain choice to move into a depth position, while A.J. Greer and Eetu Luostarinen could see some knocked minutes in favor of the Panthers’ star.
Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Matheson, Carlo, Canadiens
As much as he would have liked to, forward Matthew Tkachuk won’t play in the Winter Classic tomorrow for the Florida Panthers. The Panthers announced the news earlier today from team reporter Jameson Olive.
Still, it shouldn’t be too much longer for the two-time Stanley Cup champion. Tkachuk has been working his way back from a groin injury for the first half of the 2025-26 campaign, and has been skating in a non-contact jersey for the last handful of practices.
Although it won’t come in the Winter Classic, the return of Tkachuk will be a major boost to the defending Stanley Cup champions. Despite being outpaced by the red-hot Buffalo Sabres in the last few days, the Panthers are only one point back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Returning a player of Tkachuk’s caliber, who’s scored 88 goals and 254 points in 211 regular-season contests, should help them recoup some lost ground in the standings.
Other updates from the Atlantic Division:
- The Montreal Canadiens have a little bit of a different look to their defensive core tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. Before the game, the Canadiens announced that defenseman Mike Matheson would miss the game due to an upper-body injury, and rookie Adam Engstrom would take his spot in the lineup. Matheson’s injury has caused some controversy, as it’s likely linked to being elbowed by Panthers forward Brad Marchand in yesterday’s overtime win. Marchand was penalized on the play, but didn’t receive any supplemental discipline.
- Although they’ve lost veteran defenseman Chris Tanev for the foreseeable future, the Toronto Maple Leafs may have a different right-handed defenseman return this weekend. Earlier today, Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun highlighted in his article that Brandon Carlo could be activated from the injured reserve for Saturday’s game against the New York Islanders. Carlo, in his first full season with the Maple Leafs, has been largely disappointing this year, registering two assists in 18 games while being injured for much of the year due to lower-body concerns.
- Back in Montreal, Sportsnet’s Eric Engels provided a few injury updates on Kirby Dach and Kaiden Guhle. Engels suggested that the Canadiens are remaining cautious with Dach, who has missed the last six weeks with a fractured foot. He’s expected to return soon, but could need additional time before he’s fully ready to return. Meanwhile, Engels stated that the team is far more optimistic about Guhle, who could return when Montreal returns from their current road trip, which would be on January 7th against the Calgary Flames.
Snapshots: Sabres, Tkachuk, Hagel, Lucic
Sabres defenseman Michael Kesselring is expected to return on Thursday against Philadelphia after missing the last 14 games with a lower-body injury, reports Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. A key part of the JJ Peterka trade over the offseason, the 25-year-old has been limited to just nine appearances so far this season after also sustaining a knee injury in the preseason. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him get eased back in but he’ll likely get a chance to take on a bigger role after the holiday break.
Meanwhile, among other injured Sabres, winger Jason Zucker has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury and is hoping to return after the break. Forward Justin Danforth has missed 28 games with what’s believed to be a broken kneecap but head coach Lindy Ruff says he’s doing okay now. Lastly, goaltender Colten Ellis (concussion protocol) is expected to be reevaluated on Friday after missing the last two games.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- While Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk has been skating on his own recently, he has yet to join the team for practice. As a result, GM Bill Zito told NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika that they don’t know if Tkachuk will be available for the Winter Classic in a little more than two weeks. The 28-year-old had surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia back in August and has yet to play this season. He’s averaged more than a point per game in four straight years and whenever he comes back – be it for the outdoor game or later on – he’ll be a huge boost to a Florida team that sits around the middle of the pack in the East.
- Lightning winger Brandon Hagel is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and hasn’t been ruled out of Thursday’s game against Los Angeles, relays Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Hagel was injured on a hit from Seth Jones on Monday, resulting in him leaving the game. He has been a key contributor for Tampa Bay this season, notching 18 goals and 13 assists in 32 games.
- Veteran winger Milan Lucic has decided not to hang up his skates. Released from an AHL tryout with Springfield late last month, he has found his next team as the Fife Flyers of the EIHL announced that they’ve signed the 37-year-old for the remainder of the season. Lucic has only played in nine games since the 2022-23 campaign ended so it’s far from a guarantee that he’ll be able to be an impactful player as he looks to continue his career.
Panthers Reassign Jack Devine
The Panthers announced this afternoon that forward Jack Devine has been assigned to AHL Charlotte. That clears an active roster spot, one that could be used to activate star winger Matthew Tkachuk from long-term injured reserve in the coming days. Nearly two weeks have passed since he started skating again following offseason groin surgery.
If that’s the case, Florida isn’t done making roster moves. With Devine off the roster, they’re exceeding the cap by $7.24MM. They’re compliant because that’s less than their LTIR pool of $9.52MM. That pool will shrink to $5.7MM when Tkachuk is activated, though. That’s a $1.54MM difference they need to make up for. They’ll likely do so by shifting forwards Jonah Gadjovich and Cole Schwindt from standard IR to LTIR. They carry a combined cap hit of $1.6MM, increasing their LTIR pool by just enough to carry Tkachuk on the active roster without making any other changes to the roster.
Devine is in his first professional season and still has three years or 64 NHL games played remaining until he’ll require waivers to head to the minors, so that’s not a concern anytime soon. He’s the only waiver-exempt player on the roster aside from lineup fixture Mackie Samoskevich, so that made his reassignment more or less inevitable as Florida got healthier.
The right-shooting Devine had been out of the lineup as a healthy scratch in three consecutive games. He didn’t manage a point in six appearances since being recalled from Charlotte on Nov. 18. His possession numbers are solid enough, but he was deployed in extremely sheltered usage and had a -3 rating while averaging only 8:26 of ice time per game.
Florida drafted Devine with the fifth-to-last pick of the 2022 draft. He’s been on an upward trajectory ever since and turned pro this year on the heels of back-to-back 50-point seasons at the University of Denver, where he totaled a 57-106–163 scoring line in 162 collegiate appearances across four years. He won two national championships with the Pioneers and was the top scorer in college hockey with 57 points in 2024-25, finishing as a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award for the second year in a row.
His offensive success in the NCAA has followed him to the pros, just not yet to the NHL. He rattled off six goals and 12 points through his first 13 games with Charlotte before getting called up. He was the team’s leading scorer when he was removed from the roster last month and should reclaim that title soon enough as he’s in for an extended stint – potentially the rest of the season – down in the AHL after a quiet first stint on the Cats’ roster.
East Notes: Tkachuk, Coleman, Jensen, Newhook
Earlier today, George Richards of Florida Hockey Now passed along a note from Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice indicating that Matthew Tkachuk could begin skating by the end of the month.
The news does not significantly alter Tkachuk’s recovery timeline, which is still expected to be around mid-December. Still, it’s confirmation that he’s on the right track to returning on time from his groin injury, which is nothing but music to the ears of the Panthers and the USA’s Olympic roster.
Florida’s last time on the ice came with a Stanley Cup above his shoulders for the second time in as many years. Florida has struggled out of the gates without their top two highest-paid forwards and would significantly benefit from adding Tkachuk’s goal-scoring and physicality back into the mix.
Other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (per James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now), the New Jersey Devils are contemplating an attempt to bring back a familiar face. Pagnotta indicated that the Devils are interested in acquiring forward Blake Coleman from the Calgary Flames, who scored 57 goals and 94 points in 237 games for New Jersey from 2016 to 2020. Unfortunately, Coleman has a $4.9MM salary for this year and next with a 10-team no-trade clause, which is something the Devils couldn’t afford unless they moved out their own salary.
- Outside of ending the Boston Bruins’ seven-game winning streak, the Ottawa Senators are dealing with some injury concerns on their blue line. The Senators announced that defenseman Nick Jensen had left the game due to an upper-body injury, and didn’t have any updates regarding his status after the game. Jensen finished the game with one hit and two giveaways with a -1 rating in 12:02 of action.
- The Montreal Canadiens are dealing with some injury concerns from their lopsided loss to the Dallas Stars tonight. Montreal shared that Alex Newhook had left the game with an undisclosed injury and is still being evaluated. His only mark on the scoresheet was his brief time on ice of 5:54.
Atlantic Notes: Pastrnak, Tkachuk, Marchand, Edvinsson
Yesterday, it looked like Bruins star David Pastrnak would be limited to begin training camp when the team told reporters, including Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub, that he wouldn’t be skating for the first few days due to a tendonitis flare-up. That ended up not being the case as he was on the ice this morning skating and shooting by himself, relays Steve Conroy of The Boston Herald. He’s not participating in the full session today, though. Conor Ryan of The Boston Globe reports that trade pickup Viktor Arvidsson is skating as a placeholder in Pastrnak’s spot on the top line alongside Morgan Geekie and Elias Lindholm for the time being. In any event, it doesn’t look like Pastrnak’s ironman streak, which dates back to the 2021-22 season, is in jeopardy as he aims for his fourth consecutive 100-point season.
More from the Atlantic Division:
- The Panthers put out some contrasting smoke signals yesterday on Matthew Tkachuk‘s timeline for returning from adductor surgery. He underwent the procedure in mid-August, and the initial report was that he was targeting a January season debut. General manager Bill Zito was more optimistic about Tkachuk’s timeline yesterday, telling George Richards of Florida Hockey Now that December could be an option, while head coach Paul Maurice gave a more vague “midseason” designation. In any event, Florida will be playing at least the first quarter of their season without the services of one of their many star wingers.
- Florida winger Brad Marchand also spoke during yesterday’s media availability, telling Alex Baumgartner of Five Reasons Sports that the lack of income tax in the state was one of the main factors in the Cats’ ability to keep all of him, Sam Bennett, and Aaron Ekblad from reaching free agency this summer. “If we were not in a non-tax state, it wouldn’t have worked out probably for two guys. Two guys probably would have been leaving in that situation. So it’s a benefit that this team has, we were able to utilize and make work,” Marchand said. He also cited the term of his extension offer from Florida (six years) as a driving force behind his decision to stay and one of the reasons he opted not to sign an extension with the Bruins, leading to his trade to Florida at the deadline last year.
- Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson will miss most, if not all, of training camp due to a lower-body injury, general manager Steve Yzerman said yesterday (via Sean Shapiro of DLLS Sports). His return timeline is “around the start of the regular season.” If he’s to miss any time, that’s a crushing early-season blow to one of the league’s thinnest blue lines. The 2021 No. 6 overall pick broke out for 31 points and a +12 rating in 78 contests last season and is one of only two truly top-four-caliber defenders in the organization, alongside Moritz Seider.
Matthew Tkachuk Underwent Surgery, Aiming For January Return
Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk‘s health entering the season has been a topic of conversation after he returned early from an adductor injury sustained at the 4 Nations Face-Off to suit up in Florida’s run to a second straight Stanley Cup. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period now relays that Tkachuk indeed opted for surgery to repair it, undergoing the procedure “a few weeks ago,” and could miss as much as the first four months of the campaign.
It’s still not clear what caused the right-winger’s injury during the 4 Nations tournament, but he missed the balance of the regular season and wasn’t cleared to return until Game 2 of the Cats’ first-round win over the Lightning. Opting for non-surgical rehab initially to accelerate his return timeline, he still managed to rattle off a point per game as he marched to his third straight Stanley Cup Final and second straight win, although his 17:24 average time on ice was a noticeable drop from his previous usage.
His projected return timeline makes him LTIR-eligible and offers the Panthers a pathway to cap compliance to begin the season, but it’s not that simple. They’re now $4.5MM over the cap and, on top of shuffling their roster to optimize his LTIR relief, they have to figure out a way to reinstate him on the active roster when he’s ready to return while staying below the $95.5MM upper limit. They likely won’t concern themselves with the first bit too much, as he’s not a season-long absence and their roster is full, but their roadmap to a compliant roster and a healthy Tkachuk is still murky.
Tkachuk, 27, has averaged 99 points per 82 games since arriving in Florida in 2022 via the blockbuster trade with the Flames that sent Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar the other way. He also has 25 goals and 69 points in 67 playoff games for the Panthers over the last three years, ranking fourth and third in franchise history, respectively.
In the interim, the Panthers can expect 2021 first-rounder Mackie Samoskevich to play a pivotal role in their early-season success. The 22-year-old winger filled in for Tkachuk down the stretch last year and finished his rookie campaign with a 15-16–31 scoring line in 72 games. He’ll now get more opportunity out of the gate after essentially being forced to sign a league-minimum contract this summer thanks to Florida’s cap crunch and his 10.2(c) status prohibiting him from signing an offer sheet.
Players Who Could Start The Season On LTIR
While only a handful of teams project to need cap relief via long-term injured reserve to open the season, multiple candidates across the league might technically qualify for a placement. Doing so would bar the player from returning until Oct. 31 at the earliest – 24 days from the season start date of Oct. 7.
Avalanche: Logan O’Connor
O’Connor underwent hip surgery in early June. Given the five-to-six-month projected recovery window, he won’t be available until early November at best, putting him past the 10-game/24-day threshold required for LTIR. Colorado, which has $2.10MM in current cap space, will likely place O’Connor on standard IR if they don’t make any other cap-affecting moves between now and October. If they need the relief, though, they could create up to O’Connor’s $2.5MM cap hit in cushion for the first few weeks of the season if they need it.
Blues: Torey Krug
St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong announced in May that Krug’s career is done because of pre-arthritic conditions in his left ankle that surgical intervention only slowly corrected. Since the Blues only have around $625K in cap space, Krug and his $6.5MM cap hit will be going on LTIR as soon as they need the flexibility for a call-up.
Canadiens: Carey Price
What’s certain is that Price won’t play this season or ever again. He’s entering the final season of his contract at a $10.5MM cap hit after confirming nearly two years ago that his knee injury would prohibit him from suiting up again. What’s uncertain is whether or not he’ll begin the season on LTIR. Montreal isn’t in a great position to optimize its LTIR relief, either by matching his cap hit in excess or getting down to $0 in space before placing him on the list. That’s made his contract a trade chip for teams who might need the relief more.
Devils: Johnathan Kovacevic
Kovacevic underwent knee surgery in early May and won’t be ready for training camp and likely opening night as well. Whether that stretches past Oct. 31 and makes him eligible for an LTIR placement if New Jersey needs cap relief early on remains to be seen.
Flyers: Ryan Ellis, Rasmus Ristolainen
Ellis’ career is over after sustaining a wide-ranging muscular injury in his pelvis just four games into his Flyers tenure in 2021. Ristolainen underwent a procedure on his right triceps tendon on March 26 with a six-month recovery time, putting him right on the edge of potential LTIR eligibility. Philly will have a better idea of the latter’s LTIR deployment potential after he undergoes his training camp physical. With $370K in cap space, they’re in a good position for near-max LTIR capture and will almost certainly at least place Ellis there to begin the year to give them call-up flexibility.
Golden Knights: Alex Pietrangelo
Pietrangelo is already on offseason LTIR, meaning the Knights actually still have to add an additional $1.2MM to their roster before opening night to optimize his capture and unlock his full $8.8MM cap hit’s worth of relief for this season. The team confirmed he requires multiple undisclosed but significant surgeries that will likely mark the end of his playing career, but it’s unclear if he’s actually had them done yet.
Jets: Adam Lowry
Lowry underwent hip surgery in late May and won’t be available until after Thanksgiving at the earliest. Winnipeg likely won’t be formalizing an LTIR placement with nearly $4MM in cap space, though.
Mammoth: Juuso Välimäki
Välimäki underwent ACL surgery in early March. He likely won’t end up on LTIR given Utah’s current cap flexibility ($6.68MM), but he’ll be out until at least early November so he’ll be there as an early-season option in case they need relief for whatever reason.
Oilers: Zach Hyman
Hyman’s inclusion here is on the speculative side. The winger could very well be ready for the start of the season. However, there hasn’t been much clarity on how much recovery he still needs after undergoing surgery to repair a severe wrist injury that kept him out of the Stanley Cup Final. A report in early June indicated there was uncertainty about his status for training camp, with no meaningful updates since then.
Panthers: Matthew Tkachuk
Tkachuk told ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski earlier this month that he’s still deciding whether he wants to undergo surgery to address the adductor issue that hampered him down the stretch and in the playoffs after sustaining it at the 4 Nations Face-Off. All signs point to him opting for it and spending the next two to three months on the shelf as a result, though. Placing him on LTIR is the only way the Panthers, who currently have a cap exceedance of $3.725MM, can be compliant to start the season without shedding a significant contract, something they aren’t keen to do.
Wild: Jonas Brodin
Minnesota has $9.41MM in cap space, but that number will shrink once they re-sign restricted free agent Marco Rossi (or add salary while trading his signing rights). Neither scenario will likely push them into a situation where they need to use LTIR relief, but they might have Brodin and his $6MM cap hit as an option for some short-term flexibility if required. He underwent an upper-body procedure in early June and is questionable for the beginning of the season, so it’s not yet clear if he’ll miss enough time to qualify.