In today’s NHL rumour rundown, the Florida Panthers’ star player, Matthew Tkachuk, is still undecided about his offseason surgery. Elsewhere, Elias Pettersson (the forward) is looking for a big season in 2025-26 with the Vancouver Canucks, and wants revenge on last season. Finally, it appears that the New Jersey Devils and Luke Hughes are looking to get a long-term extension done.
Tkachuk Undecided on Offseason Surgery
In an interview with ESPN and Greg Wyshynski, Tkachuk revealed that he is still undecided on whether he will receive offseason surgery or not. Coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off, Tkachuk was dealing with a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia, which held him out for the rest of the regular season. At the end of the playoffs, head coach Paul Maurice stated that Tkachuk was a mess health-wise.
On last week’s episode of 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman reported that Tkachuk may miss some time, but didn’t have the details available as to what the circumstances were or exactly how long it would be.
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Wyshynski’s report states that Tkachuk could miss “two or three months” if he does opt to have the surgery. While it isn’t common for a superstar-caliber player to wait this long into the offseason to have an operation, in the case of Tkachuk, it makes sense. Both injuries can heal with time, but may also need operations. For Tkachuk, waiting to see how his recovery went over the offseason before making the executive decision is fair.
Some are pointing to the delay as a long-term injured reserve workaround, but that likely isn’t the case. If it were a full-season thing, maybe, but in this case, a two- to three-month recovery time won’t help the Panthers with getting more salary on the books. Tkachuk is expected to be available for the 2026 Olympics in Milan and will not want to miss out.
Through all of the talks surrounding the Canucks over the past year, whether it be about the reported feud between Pettersson and J.T Miller, Quinn Hughes’ future, or the future of Rick Tocchet, it was a chaotic season for the organization. Now, their superstar center, who is coming off a career-low in points-per-game, scoring just 45 points, is looking to prove to everybody that it was a one-off.
When speaking with Peter Ekholm of NHL.com, Pettersson…
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