Matthew Tkachuk is on LTIR; What's Next for the Florida Panthers?

The Florida Panthers placed Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve on Sunday morning. Here is where they could be going from here.

On Sunday morning, the Florida Panthers placed Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve.

This created $8.7 million in cap space, per PuckPedia, after the Panthers found themselves at the cap ceiling without a back-up goaltender on the roster following the trade that brought Seth Jones to South Florida on Saturday night.

There are two paths the Panthers could take from here.

If Tkachuk can return to play during the regular season, all Florida would have to do is clear $800,000 in cap space via waiving or trading a player on their current roster to bring him back.

Tkachuk was placed on LTIR retroactive to Feb. 22, meaning he would have to miss 10 games and 24 days before returning. He has missed four of the 10 games and seven of the 24 days so far.

The first game Tkachuk would be available to return for is a March 20 road game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

If he is not ready to return during the regular season, the Panthers will now have the $8.7 million in cap space they cleared from placing Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve to use at the trade deadline this year. If that is the case, they will have to wait until the postseason begins to be able to bring him back.

Florida using that cap space does not mark the end of his season as a whole. Teams are allowed to go over the salary cap ceiling to return players from long-term injured reserve during the playoffs.

If the Panthers use that space at the deadline, they could be looking to upgrade their back-up goaltender and fourth-line center positions among other things.

Florida still has its 2026 or 2027 first round draft picks— there is a condition on the draft pick sent to Chicago for Jones, allowing the Panthers to move the ‘26 pick if needed, pushing the pick they get to ‘27 — at its disposal if it is looking to make another big splash at the deadline.

Who could some potential trade targets be for the Panthers in the case Tkachuk misses the rest of the season?

Let’s take a look: