Panthers place Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve
It looks like Matthew Tkachuk’s injury is worse than some might have hoped.
On Sunday, the Florida Panthers placed the winger on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury.
The Florida Panthers cleared a boatload of cap space on Sunday with Matthew Tkachuk going on LTIR.
He has been out since getting hurt at the 4 Nations.
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Tkachuk has been out of action since the 4 Nations Face-Off. While representing the United States, the 27-year-old suffered the injury during the team’s round-robin clash against Canada on Feb. 15. He then sat out the round-robin finale against Sweden before returning to the lineup for the championship game against Canada on Feb. 20. However, Tkachuk only played a few minutes before sitting out most of the final, which saw Canada win 3-2 in overtime.
Per the league’s LTIR rules, Tkachuk has to sit out 10 games and 24 days. With Florida having already played four times since the break and only eight days having passed since Tkachuk was retroactively placed on LTIR, he wouldn’t be eligible to return to the lineup until March 20, when the Cats take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Tkachuk’s absence might be beneficial for the Panthers. According to PuckPedia, the team now has $8.7 million of cap space prior to Friday’s trade deadline. Florida might’ve had a little bit more wiggle room, but general manager Bill Zito decided to help bolster the team’s blue line on Saturday when they acquired defenseman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks, paying 75 percent of Jones’ $9.5 million cap hit.
Tkachuk has played in 52 games this season, scoring 22 goals and 35 assists for 57 points, still second on the Panthers in scoring.
The Panthers (37-21-3) are first in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs.