NHL Notebook: Matthew Tkachuk undergoes surgery, could be out until January

The gritty winger was injured while representing the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, playing just under seven minutes in the team’s 3-2 overtime loss to Canada in the championship game. Tkachuk missed the remainder of the regular season and joined the Panthers for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Even at less than 100 percent, Tkachuk still posted 23 points in 23 playoff games and was a constant problem in the Final against the Oilers, chipping in three goals and seven points. Following Florida’s second Stanley Cup victory, Tkachuk revealed that he was dealing with a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia.

A 2016 first-round pick of the Flames, Tkachuk has almost single-handedly dragged Florida from irrelevant to perennial contender since arriving via trade in 2022. Through 642 NHL games over nine years with Calgary and Florida, he has 240 goals and 636 points, plus 32 goals and 84 points in 94 playoff games across seven trips.

The Panthers largely kept their championship core intact this summer, signing Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, and Sam Bennett to long-term extensions while swapping Nate Schmidt for Jeff Petry on defense and Vitek Vanecek for Daniil Tarasov in goal. With Tkachuk out for an extended period of time, Florida also inked forward Luke Kunin to a one-year deal.

More News From Around The NHL…

• The Minnesota Wild have signed Marco Rossi to a three-year contract carrying a $5 million cap hit. The talks were public, with Rossi’s camp initially pushing for a longer deal in the ~$7 million range and Vancouver reportedly kicking tires on a trade, but Bill Guerin’s front office and the 2020 ninth-overall pick found middle ground. Coming off his ELC, Rossi has split four North American seasons between AHL Iowa and Minnesota, including two full NHL years. He’s picked up 101 points in 185 regular-season games and three points in six playoff contests for the Wild. After a 40-point rookie year in 2023-24, he posted 60 points in 2024-25, finishing second on the team in points behind Matt Boldy and second in goals to Kirill Kaprizov.
• The Chicago Blackhawks locked up 2022 first-round pick Frank Nazar to a seven-year extension worth $6.59 million annually. With one more year left on his ELC, Nazar’s extension begins in 2026-27 and runs through 2032-33. After leaving Michigan and getting a brief look at the AHL level 2023-24, the Detroit native torched the league with Rockford, scoring 24 points in 21 games. He earned a mid-December call-up to Chicago and never looked back. Nazar finished 2024-25 with 26 points in 53 games, two game-winners, and just under 16 minutes per night, part of a 56-game NHL line of 13 goals and 27 points. Nazar also shone for Team USA at the 2025 IIHF Worlds with 12 points in 10 games, tying Logan Cooley for the team lead and helping secure the program’s first gold since 1933.