Last Saturday, when Team USA beat Canada to secure their spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, Matthew Tkachuk was in a defiant mood. He talked about sending a message that “It’s our time,” and brushed off concerns about his lower-body injury, which led to his early exit from the game. However, the narrative flipped in a matter of days. Canada roared back in the final to win the tournament in overtime on Thursday as Tkachuk’s injury came back to haunt him with the forward reduced limited to 6:47 of ice time and now there could be more bad news.

The Florida Panthers had eight players, the most of any NHL team, participating in the 4 Nations tournament and will resume their schedule on Saturday following an extended league-wide break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. As players returned from the tournament to join the training on Friday at their new facility in Fort Lauderdale, Panthers coach Paul Maurice confirmed that Tkachuk was going to miss Saturday’s game against Seattle.

“I don’t know that anything changed in that game from the game prior in terms of his injury. He’ll get back in here today, we’ll look at him over today and tomorrow. I’ll probably have a better handle on (the injury) tomorrow but not a final one,” Maurice said. He mentioned that Tkachuk will undergo more tests in the next two days before the Panthers determine the next steps, but a concerning development has come to light.

TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie shared an update suggesting that there is a concern that Tkachuk’s season might be over. “I want to talk to you about a case that is very important in the national league. We’re waiting for important medical results, we’re hearing his year might be over, we don’t want it to be, but there’s some concern.” This is a worrying update for the Panthers given how he has been vital to them this season. He has 57 points in 52 games and is a massive piece to the Cup Champion Panther.

It is unclear how Tkachuk was injured against Team Canada, but there was some speculation that he sustained it during his fights on the ice. “So the next few days are going to be very, very, very important for him,” Lavoie stressed, and honestly, that’s the understatement of the season. We are yet to get an official confirmation from the Panthers or Paul Maurice, but this doesn’t bode well for them.

Florida was on fire heading into the 13-day 4 Nations Face-Off break, stacking up wins like it was nothing.

Two straight dubs, seven out of ten—yeah, the Panthers were rolling. Well, they are now atop the Atlantic Division with a 34-20-3 record and once again, they look like a legitimate 2024-25 Stanley Cup contender. But here is the catch: if they want to go back to back, they need Matthew Tkachuk in the mix.

The big question for Florida will be just how long Tkachuk is out for. If they miss him until the playoffs, the Panthers have the chance to make a huge trade deadline acquisition, but risk playing some postseason without Tkachuk.

Meanwhile, Matthew Tkachuk’s brother has also returned from the 4 Nations Face-Off carrying an injury.

Matthew Tkachuk’s brother dealing with injury

Brady Tkachuk, lit up the 4 Nations Face-Off, putting on an absolute clinic for Team USA. He was a force—scoring three goals in two games against Canada and exhibiting that Tkachuk grit few could imitate. But now, when the NHL regular season is getting more intense, the younger Tkachuk will not play for Ottawa against Montreal.

Turns out, he was grinding through that championship game, and after what looked like a knee-on-goal-post situation in the prelims against Sweden, things weren’t looking great. He still came through with a clutch game-tying goal in the final but by the end his normal ice skate aggression was missing.

The exact injury? Still a mystery. However, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman put some of that anxiety to rest when he said that Ottawa is not panicking. “Hearing Brady Tkachuk will not play tonight for Ottawa. The good news: the Senators are not worried it is anything serious, more of a day-to-day thing,” he tweeted.