George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers were without star Matthew Tkachuk Saturday against Seattle after he sustained what appears to be a groin injury at the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off playing for Team USA.
How long Tkachuk will be dealing with this injury is the big unknown.
Although Tkachuk missed one game, it probably will be more.
On Monday morning, coach Paul Maurice told the Joe Rose Show that Tkachuk could “miss some time.’’
Renaud Lavoie of Canada’s TVA reported Saturday there is concern Tkachuk’s season could be over.
“We’re waiting for important medical results,” Lavoie said during the Montreal-Ottawa game.
“We’re hearing his year might be over, we don’t want it to be, but there’s some concern.”
Those around the Panthers who spoke with FHN on Saturday indicated nothing of the sort.
Maurice said Tkachuk “will play for us this year.’’
So now we wait, and see.
If Tkachuk ends up being out for an extended period due to the injury, Florida’s obvious move is to put him on long-term injured reserve — but only if it appears this will keep him out of the lineup for more than just a few games.
Such a drastic move has its advantages, and certainly has its disadvantages.
With the NHL Trade Deadline coming in two weeks, do the pros overweigh those cons?
The NHL Trade Deadline is March 7.
Placing Tkachuk on LTIR would free up a large chunk of money under the salary cap — he is, after all, Florida’s third-highest paid player behind Sasha Barkov and Sergei Bobrovsky with a cap hit of $9.5 million.
If that money were to be freed up, albeit temporarily, the Panthers would be in play for a number of players at the trade deadline.
Florida does not have a first-round pick in 2025, but does have all future first-rounders which could be in used as potential deadline trade chips.
The Panthers, with a limited prospect pool and no picks in the first three rounds this year, are definitely dealing at a disadvantage when it comes to other teams.
But the Panthers have been creative in the past.
According to PuckPedia.com, Florida will be able to fit in a salary of $3.5 million at the deadline.
Take Tkachuk’s money off the cap, and the Panthers would theoretically be in play for a number of top players if they wanted to be.
Of course, that comes with a cost that is not necessarily financial.
If Tkachuk was going to miss a large amount of games anyway, going on LTIR gives the Panthers major roster flexibility.
A player on LTIR has to miss 10 games and 24 days of action; the Panthers have 24 games remaining.
But while the NHL does waive roster limits after the trade deadline, teams still have to stay under the salary cap until the end of the season.
For the Panthers to land a big fish at the trade deadline, they would have to play the rest of the regular season without Tkachuk because they would not have the cap space to fit him back in upon his return.
During the regular season, that is.
Once the playoffs start, the salary cap is not an issue — see the Tampa Bay Lightning (2021) and Vegas Golden Knights for a recent example.
Both teams put high-profile players on LTIR (Steven Stamkos, Mark Stone) before the deadline and added to their roster. When the playoffs started, those players were in the lineup.
The cons of such a move is losing the services of a player of Tkachuk’s caliber for the final third of the regular season.
Of course, if it is determined that Tkachuk is going to miss two months anyway, well, that makes the decision pretty easy.
That does not mean Florida is going to go nuts at the trade deadline since the market is kind of thin, but it certainly alleviates any cap concerns either in adding new players or bringing ones up from AHL Charlotte.
How long will Tkachuk be out?
That is what we do not know.
All coach Paul Maurice has said is that Tkachuk is day-to-day.
Maurice says he did not know much about the injury because Florida’s medical staff has really not had a chance to evaluate the injury.
Tkachuk could very well be fine, his injury not being too serious and he would be back in the lineup soon.
More should be known in the coming days — and there is no real rush.
Once Tkachuk missed Saturday’s game, his injury clock started ticking.
The Panthers can retroactively place him on LTIR if they decide that is what’s best in the next week or so.
Back in 2022, the Panthers placed Aaron Ekblad on LTIR with 17 games remaining.
Ekblad was going to miss time after being hurt in Anaheim, yes, but it appeared he would be able to come back not long after the 10 game/24 day window ended.
By being on LTIR and freeing up his cap hit, the Panthers were not over the cap when they traded for Claude Giroux and therefore did not have to lose a player to become cap compliant.
Ekblad did not play the remainder of the regular season — but was in the lineup for Game 1 against the Washington Capitals when the Panthers started the postseason.
More should be known about Tkachuk, and what the Panthers plan to do, in the next few days.
Until then, let the speculation begin.
It is trade season, after all.
ON DECK: GAME No. 59
FLORIDA PANTHERS at NASHVILLE PREDATORS