Matthew Tkachuk expected to play again this season

The Panthers may have star winger Matthew Tkachuk out for more than the next few games, but his absence wont persist for the rest of the season.

Head coach Paul Maurice confirmed as such on the Joe Rose Show on Monday, saying hes playing for us this year even with the possibility [his recovery] a bit longer term (via George Richards of Florida Hockey Now ).

Tkachuk missed the Panthers 2-1 loss to the Kraken on Saturday with the lower-body injury, which multiple reports indicate is a groin issue, he sustained while playing for the Americans at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Maurice said hes undergoing final evaluations to determine a recovery timeline today.

Florida is comfortably in a playoff spot, but their final standing in the Atlantic Division remains to be seen and could be significantly impacted by Tkachuks absence.

Theyve been passed by the Maple Leafs once again for the top spot, now one point back with one more game played, and theyre facing pressure from the surging Lightning in third place.

Theres now a 20% chance of the Cats slipping to third and another 6.1% of them falling to a wild-card spot, per MoneyPuck .

The Panthers have gone 6-4-1 in 11 games without Tkachuk since acquiring him in a blockbuster trade with the Flames in 2022.

Tkachuk isnt on pace to reach the 40-goal, 109-point heights of his first season in Florida, but he remains at a 1.10 points-per-game pace and ranks second on the team with a 22-3557 scoring line.

Hes been limited to 52 of 58 games, missing five contests back in October with an illness, but remains the teams leader in power-play goals with 11 and even-strength assists with 23.

In the meantime, rookie Mackie Samoskevich will be the biggest benefactor of Tkachuks minutes.

He stepped into the latters usual second-line role alongside Sam Bennett in the Seattle game.

While he didnt record a point, he logged a season-high 17:23 of ice time and recorded two shots on goal and three hits.

The 2021 first-round pick hasnt played much over the past month due to injury and illness, but hes been a solid depth piece in his first entire NHL campaign with 8-917 through 49 appearances.

An anticipated return before the postseason or early into the first round likely wont impact the Panthers trade deadline strategy too much.

Their top priority will continue to be adding a name to a blue line thats punched above its weight this year after losing key names on last summers free-agent market, contributing to an increase of 0.47 goals against per game compared to 2023-24s league-best defensive effort.

This article first appeared on Pro Hockey Rumors and was syndicated with permission..

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