The Stanley Cup Playoffs are fast approaching for the Florida Panthers.

Opponents and seedings are still being determined in both the Eastern and Western Conference, so a final first round schedule is still a few days away from being completed and distributed.

Still, playoff games are quite literally right around the corner, and Florida is poised to defend their Stanley Cup Championship and go for the rare repeat.

In preparation for the battles to come, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice has been giving his players some time off over the past couple weeks, giving them some extra time to heal, rest and brace themselves for what they hope is another deep playoff run.

On Monday, Maurice provided an update on the status of injured forward Matthew Tkachuk during a guest appearance on the Joe Rose Show on 560 WQAM.

Tkachuk suffered an apparent groin injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off back in February and has not played a game for the Panthers since.

Recently, he's been seen on the ice, but only before the Panthers practice and on his own.

The hope was that Tkachuk would be ready to return sometime during the first round of the playoffs, and it sounds like that remains a realistic goal.

Speaking on the program, Maurice was asked about Tkachuk's potential availability for Game 1.

“I don't know the answer," Maurice said. "This week is a really important week for him. It's not that far off. If he’s not [ready for Game 1], he’s very, very close. We’re not missing this by two weeks.”

Tkachuk being ready to join his teammates for regular practices would be a big step in his recovery.

It sounds like that could be a possibility in the near future as long as his injury continues to respond well to the work they're putting in.

"It might be a day or two to [get to] a full push,” Maurice said. “So what will happen is, he’ll amp up to full skates and hard skates toward the middle to end of this week. As he goes through those, how quick he recovers the next day will be the key thing. If he comes in and there’s no soreness the next day, then he’s right and he’ll be ready to go. If he’s got a little residual soreness, we may have to hold another day or two, but he’s not that far off.”

The NHL wraps up the regular season on Thursday. Stanley Cup Playoff games will begin over the weekend.

Could Tkachuk be back with the Panthers as soon as next week?

We shall see.

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