Florida Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice speaks to the media at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale. (Florida Panthers) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/e028bf8c-e174-4404-86ff-4d8817a42bae.png] Florida Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice speaks to the media at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale. (Florida Panthers) Another day, another update on Matthew Tkachuk. Sort of. On Thursday, the Florida Panthers held an optional morning skate ahead of their Stanley Cup Final rematch with the Edmonton Oilers. Tkachuk was not on the ice, but he was in the building, receiving treatment and attending meetings with his teammates. The only new information from Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice regarding Tkachuk's status was that he wouldn't be playing on Saturday against Calgary. Maurice did categorize the injury as "near-term" which would indicate that Tkachuk could be back on the ice in coming days, potentially. "Nothing new," Maurice said. "He's out near-term, we know that, we're just making sure that we get as many different ideas on treatment plans and things like that. I'll give you the update when I get the final update of what we're doing." It sounds like the team's medical staff has yet to zero in on an exact route of treatment for Tkachuk's injury, though they likely have a better-than-good idea of what they are dealing with in terms of severity. Florida taking their time bring back an injured player is nothing new. Over the past several seasons, whether it be Tkachuk, Sasha Barkov, Aaron Ekblad or any Panthers player who had to miss time with an injury, there has not been a single situation where a player was brought back too soon and either have to go back out of the lineup or take some time to get back into proper form. When Maurice and his staff bring a player back into the lineup, at least during the regular season, that player is as close to 100% as possible while not risking any further setbacks. "We just don't need to hurry right now," Maurice said. "Because he's not playing on the weekend and we're not jamming him back into the game. We're just going to make sure that we see as many people as we need to see, to make sure that we've got a really good handle on how it wants to be." Florida has home games next Monday, Thursday and Saturday against Tampa Bay, Columbus and Buffalo, respectively. Perhaps we'll see Tkachuk back on the ice before the Panthers have to hit the road again. Stay tuned. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Panthers welcome Oilers back to Sunrise for Stanley Cup Final rematch [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-welcome-oilers-back-to-sunrise-for-stanley-cup-final-rematch] Matthew and Brady Tkachuk make appearance on New Heights podcast with Kelce brothers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/players/matthew-and-brady-tkachuk-make-appearance-on-new-heights-podcast-with-kelce-brothers] Three takeaways: Sourdif fits like a glove, Knight earns veteran win [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/three-takeaways-sourdif-fits-like-a-glove-knight-earns-veteran-win] Sam Bennett's Gordie Howe hat trick powers Panthers to 4-1 victory in Nashville [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/sam-bennetts-gordie-howe-hat-trick-powers-panthers-to-4-1-victory-in-nashville] Panthers primed for matchup in Nashville despite missing pair of forwards [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-primed-for-matchup-in-nashville-despite-missing-pair-of-forwards]
