Tkachuk Set To Make Season Debut Monday Against Sharks

It’s been seven months and two days since the Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to win the franchise’s second consecutive championship.

That day, June 17, 2025, was also the last time Matthew Tkachuk played a hockey game.

On Monday night, the Panthers star forward will make his season debut at home against the San Jose Sharks, 216 days since his last game.

Tkachuk has been recovering from offseason surgery that he had to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia.

“I’m so excited to be back,” Tkachuk said at Panthers morning skate on Monday. “It was a little over five months since the surgery. Just chomping at the bit to come back.”

”[I] wasn’t coming back until I was feeling 100%. I came back not 100% one time and that’s only a playoff thing,” he laughed. “I’m happy with the whole recovery process. A lot of people back in the training room and the weight room that I have to thank for getting me back [to] 100%… Just finally feeling myself again, and happy to get back out there.”

He sustained a lower-body injury while playing for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off, keeping him out of action from late February until Game 1 of Florida’s first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 22.

Florida’s loose-cannon was back for the postseason, and despite being visibly injured throughout the entirety of their run to a third straight Stanley Cup Final, Tkachuk finished the playoffs tied for the team lead in points.

The Panthers have done their best to stay afloat this season in Tkachuk’s absence. Through 47 games they are 25-19-3, keeping them just a few points out of a playoff spot in an Eastern Conference that has just one team below .500 (New York Rangers).

“He’s an incredibly important part of our team, he’s a point-per-game guy,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of Tkachuk Monday morning. “He’s dynamic on the power-play. Changes how we move the puck, how we control the puck, the number of plays that we complete. That’s been true his whole career.”

Aside from Tkachuk, the Panthers have been without their captain, Aleksander Barkov, for the entire regular season after the three-time Selke winner had surgery to repair the ACL and MCL in his right knee on Sept. 26 after he was injured in Florida’s first practice of training camp. Forward Tomas Nosek is also yet to play this season due to a lower-body injury.

Olympians Seth Jones (USA) and Brad Marchand (Canada) were injured earlier this month and are still not cleared to play. Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was injured in the third game of the season and hasn’t returned. Forward Jonah Gadjovich has also been out since October.

“It’s awesome, we’ve been waiting quite a while for this,” Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said of Tkachuk’s return. “He’s a huge part of our team. [There’s] nothing but excitement from us.”

Puck drop for Monday night’s game against the Sharks is set for 6 p.m. ET from Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL. The game was originally slated for 7 p.m. ET, but was moved up as the CFP (College Football Playoff) National Championship is the same night at 7:30 p.m. ET, just a few miles down the road in Miami Gardens, FL, with the local Miami Hurricanes playing in the game.