The NHL’s premiere power forwards reveal the rigorous training and mental visualization driving their preparation for a high-stakes season in Florida.
A new hockey season is inching closer and closer now that we’re more than a week into August.
NHL players across multiple continents are ramping up their offseason training in anticipation of hitting the ground running when training camps arrive in a few weeks.
That includes the Tkachuk brothers, Brady and Matthew, who are surely aiming to be at their best when they begin their first professional season as teammates.
It was a topic of discussion on this week’s episode of the Wingmen podcast.
Both Matthew and Brady gave some insight into their particular training regimens and how they are ramping up for the season, starting with Matthew asking his younger brother how much he’s skating these days.
“Like two weeks ago, I moved from (skating) once or twice a week to three times a week,” Brady said.
“Oh my god, relax you hero,” Matthew replied.
“Mondays and Thursdays are all touches,” Brady continued. “I go out there and it’s all tight areas, all below the dots. We work on power play, down low, little give-and-go’s, a lot of different angles, changing angles to shoot. Everything happens so fast in a game, if I can have my head up for a split second longer before I shoot the puck and change my angle and change my release. I’ve been really working on that.”
The Tkachuk brothers are two of the best power forwards in the league.
Hearing that they are working on improving their physical game while still giving plenty of attention to what happens with the puck on their stick sounds like a great way to continue improving and evolving their skillset.
“One thing that I think is very, very important, my mindset this summer has been all upper body strength and all lower both strength,” Matthew explained. “I just want to be that guy wins every single 50-50 battle. So that’s the little reverse hits, the leg strength, the ass strength, strong on the shoulders, strong on the puck.”
With training camp on the horizon and Panthers players already starting to show up at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale for offseason workouts, it’s clear the Tkachuk brothers are similarly working to be at their best for when they return to South Florida in the coming weeks.
“I’m doing every workout this summer visualizing that little burst to get to that puck,” said Matthew. “Then the body control and body positioning, the mobility, to get it, hold on to it, get my head up and make a play and not get killed.”
“My game, it’s not a hidden secret,” added Brady. “It’s a north-south game. I’m trying to find a little east-west, to create a little more room for myself.”
We’ll see how it all translates on the ice when the Panthers open their new schedule next month.
Stay tuned.
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Photo caption: Feb 22, 2026; Milan, Italy;MatthewTkachuk(19) of the United States and BradyTkachuk(7) of the United States celebrate after defeating Canada in the men's ice hockey gold medal game during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. (Geoff Burke-Imagn Images)
