The Florida Panthers will be without Matthew Tkachuk for at least several months of the regular season as he recovers from offseason surgery.
General manager Bill Zito said on Wednesday, Sept. 17 as training camps opened that Tkachuk would be out until ‘December-ish.’
Tkachuk was originally hurt at the 4 Nations Face-Off and missed the rest of the regular season, then he helped the Panthers win a second consecutive Stanley Cup title. Afterward, it was announced that he had been playing through a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia. He scored 23 points in 23 playoff games.
The December timeline will allow Tkachuk to be ready for the Olympics. He was among the first six players named for Team USA.
Zito also said forward Tomas Nosek would miss ‘months’ after offseason surgery.
Here’s a roundup of injury and other news as NHL training camps open:
David Pastrnak injury update
The Boston Bruins’ top scorer won’t skate for the first couple days of training camp, but the team expects him back on the ice early next week.
‘His last training block, he got a little tendinitis, and we as a group said load management at this point and time is the best course of action,’ GM Don Sweeney told reporters.
Mackenzie Blackwood injury update
The Colorado Avalanche No. 1 goalie is week to week as he deals with an offseason injury.
‘We’re hoping he’s ready to go for the start of the season,’ coach Jared Bednar told reporters. “If not right at the start, maybe the first week or two.”
Defenseman Sam Girard is on the ice as he rehabs from a lower body injury. The team hopes he’ll be ready for the start of the season.
Forward Logan O’Connor is on the ice after June hip surgery and could be back “November-ish,” Bednar said.
Nick Paul injury update
The Tampa Bay Lightning forward had surgery last week for an upper-body injury, GM Julien BriseBois told reporters. He’ll be out until the ‘first part of November.’
Connor Ingram update
The Utah Mammoth goalie has been cleared to return from the player assistance program, but he won’t take place in the team’s training camp.
GM Bill Armstrong said he’s happy for Ingram that he has been cleared, but the team will go with Karel Vejmelka and Vitek Vanecek this season.
He told reporters he would place the goalie on waivers at some point to give him a chance to play for another NHL team or in the American Hockey League.
‘At the end of the day, he will be playing and that’s what we’re so excited for,’ Armstrong said.
Zach Hyman injury update
The Edmonton Oilers star, who missed the Stanley Cup Final after wrist surgery, will miss the first day of camp but said he’s ‘progressing really, really well.’
He didn’t want to set a target date for his return.
‘We have little two-week milestones that we check off and that we hit and right now, we are progressing very well,’ he said.