Matthew Tkachuk Reveals Gloomy Update on His Injury Status

Florida Panthers star forward Matthew Tkachuk finished last season playing through a couple of serious injuries. This we know. Recently, we heard rumors that he would miss "a chunk of time" to start the 2025-26 season. Now we're getting it right from the horse's mouth.

Tkachuk spoke with ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, and offered a gloomy update on his recovery battle from his injury troubles. He admitted, in fact, that he could miss the first "two or maybe three months" if he opts for surgery.

Matthew Tkachuk tells ESPN that he remains "undecided" about undergoing surgery before the 2025-26 season but acknowledged the possibility that he'll miss "the first two or maybe three months" for the @FlaPanthers if he goes under the knife. #NHL pic.twitter.com/8noHywkucD
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) August 8, 2025

Tkachuk revealed after the Cup celebrations that he had suffered a torn adductor muscle (torn "right off the bone"), and a sports hernia injury during the 4 Nations tournament in mid-February. He had said at the time that he was "50-50" on whether to have surgery, and he has now told Wyshynski that he still hasn't made that decision, nearly two months into the offseason.

When will Matthew Tkachuk return for Panthers?

If I do get the surgery, it'll definitely be the first two or maybe three months if that's the case. But it's still undecided at this point.

Missing Tkachuk from the lineup for half the season wouldn't be the ideal scenario for the Panthers to begin defense of their back-to-back titles. The Cats played the last two+ months of the 2024-25 regular season without him, and went 13-11-1.

He returned for the playoffs, however, and the rest is history. After sitting out of NHL action for 10 weeks, all he did was register two goals and an assist in his first game back in Game 1 of the playoffs, and he simply never looked back, recording 23 points in 23 games in helping lead them to their second consecutive Stanley Cup triumph.

Tkachuk's performance was video game-worthy, and that allowed him to claim another honor this summer, as the cover boy for EA Sports NHL 26.