Panthers expect Matthew Tkachuk to be sidelined until December after surgery

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Panthers expect forward Matthew Tkachuk to be sidelined until approximately December while he recovers from offseason surgery to deal with a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle, team hockey operations president and general manager Bill Zito said Wednesday.

The timeline is fluid, since there are various benchmarks that Tkachuk has to continue hitting in his recovery before the Panthers can further evaluate. Tkachuk had surgery in August, after weeks of deliberating if the procedure was necessary.

“There’s a series of opinions that when somebody undertakes this type of procedure,” Zito said. “You can see it’s a possibility. I think ultimately it was the final diagnosis in tandem with his decision of, ‘What do I want to try to do?’”

The Panthers