FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Matthew Tkachuk is skating again, though the Florida Panthers still aren't sure when their star forward will be able to make his season debut.
Tkachuk had surgery in August after spending much of the second half of last season -- including Florida's run to a second consecutive Stanley Cup -- dealing with a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle.
He delivered the update on the "Wingmen" podcast that he co-hosts with his brother, Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators.
"He's still quite a way away, but he's back on the ice and he wasn't two weeks ago," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "So we're taking it."
The Panthers have been operating under the premise that Tkachuk is on a "December-ish" timetable to return, which still sounds logical. Whenever Tkachuk gets back, he figures to provide a huge boost to an injury-decimated lineup, one that has been missing captain Aleksander Barkov after he tore his ACL in his first training camp practice.
Tkachuk spent the first few weeks of the summer rehabbing with hopes of trying to avoid surgery but eventually had the procedure immediately after his wedding and honeymoon in France. He skated twice last week -- "the first time I've put on my skates, like legit, since Game 6" of the Stanley Cup Final, he said -- and then checked in with doctors to come up with the next phase of a plan.
"I'm just excited to get out with the boys," Tkachuk said. "I don't know when that's going to be, but it's obviously kind of getting over that hump and sooner rather than later. It's starting to trend really, really well."
There is a slew of benchmarks Tkachuk has to hit along the way, Maurice said.
Tkachuk missed the final 25 games of the regular season last spring but was able to play through both injuries for the Panthers when they won their second consecutive Stanley Cup. It also would seem like Tkachuk is on pace to be with USA Hockey in February at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
He had 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists) in 23 playoff games, including seven points in the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers. The Panthers beat the Oilers in six games.
"I've just got to get the jets on and start feeling good, and I think I'll be hopefully picking up where I left off, if not hopefully better," Tkachuk said. "That's the ideal plan."