Story byDavid DworkMon, January 5, 2026 at 2:32 AM UTC·3 min readThe Florida Panthers are on the cusp of welcoming one of the best players in the league back into their lineup. All-Star forward Matthew Tkachuk will be joining the Panthers on their upcoming road trip with the hopes of making his season debut with the Cats. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFlorida will visit Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Buffalo, Carolina and Washington over the course of 11 days, with the only back-to-back coming at the very end of the trip, and a four-day break preceding it. Tkachuk has not played since Game 6 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final, undergoing surgery for a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia after helping the Panthers win their second straight Stanley Cup. Speaking during the first intermission of Florida’s 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday, Tkachuk said that he excited to get back with his teammates on the road and continue working toward getting back in the lineup.“Hopefully it’s not much longer before you’re seeing me back out there with the boys,” he said with a grin. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Whether I’m playing on this six-game road trip, if it were to happen, it would probably be toward the end of it, just because I am still in the non-contact jersey. I don’t even have a target right now. It’s going to be nice to be on the road, get in the routine and figure it out from there.”Tkachuk has gotten a few full team practices under his belt, wearing a gold jersey that is meant to signify a player who has not been cleared for regular physical contact. The hope is that he will soon be able to shed that jersey for a blue or white one and start banging around and truly testing his healed injuries.“I'd been going pretty hard for, I don't even know, like, over a month by myself, so it’s been way easier to be out there with the guys,” Tkachuk said.
