Matthew Tkachuk will be full participant at Florida Panthers training camp

In a conversation with NHL.com’s Dan Rosen at the league’s media day on Tuesday, Matthew Tkachuk said he is fully healthy and will take part in Florida’s training camp.

Tkachuk suffered a fractured sternum during the Stanley Cup playoffs, but told the NHL @The Rink Podcast that “I am feeling great.”

Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour are expected to miss the start of the season due to injuries they suffered in the team’s postseason run.

“It’s been a very short summer, the way I want it to be every year going forward,” Tkachuk said. “The worst timing for the injury, obviously, Stanley Cup final. But in a weird way I had time after where I wasn’t missing X amount of months of game action, so I had the summer to get ready.

“The injury allowed me to work on some parts of fitness and conditioning and that is in the best form right now possible, and I just improved on some strength, which was my goal,” he continued.

Tkachuk was injured in Game 3 of the final against Vegas, and although he was allowed to play in Game 4, you could tell he was fighting through some serious pain. Tkachuk sat out Game 5, the night in which Florida was eliminated from the playoffs.

“I think I realized I was in the most pain when we won that Game 3,” Tkachuk said. “I missed a big portion of it, came back and we won it in overtime. After the game, I’m walking around and normally you have the high spirits after a win, especially in the playoffs. It doesn’t matter what you’re going through, you’re on top of the world. And I was pumped, but I still knew that half of my body felt like it was [in pain]. I knew something wasn’t right.”

Tkachuk finished with 40 goals and 69 assists for 109 points in 79 games, good for sixth in the NHL. He also was tied for third in playoff scoring with 11 goals and 24 points in 20 outings, capping off the best season of his professional career – and first campaign with the Panthers.