The Florida Panthers know it is going to be hard to replace Matthew Tkachuk. Players like him are, in more ways than one, irreplaceable. “There’s no one else in the world like Matthew,’’ captain Sasha Barkov said.

The Florida Panthers will not have Matthew Tkachuk in the lineup Tuesday night when they play the Nashville Predators, and they made a roster move on Monday. The two were not related. Coach Paul Mauri

The Florida Panthers play their first game in two weeks Saturday and will almost assuredly be without star forward Matthew Tkachuk. Tkachuk appears to have sustained a groin injury Saturday night against Canada in the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off.

Panthers star forward Matthew Tkachuk will miss Florida's game against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday because of a lower-body injury.

In the club's return from the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Florida Panthers were without forward Matthew Tkachuk in Saturday night's 2-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken, as the former Team USA winger nurses a lower-body injury suffered during the tourney.

Everybody gets their depth tested over the course of the year. Usually, if you’ve handled it right, you find out some really good things.’

Florida Panthers star forward Matthew Tkachuk was a difference maker for Team USA during the 4 Nations Face-Off, but he couldn’t help much dealing with an injury. The Panthers forward suffered a lower-body injury in a round-robin match against Team Canada and has yet to fully recover.

The Florida Panthers are the defending Stanley Cup champions, so they will have a hard time finding people to feel sorry for them now that forward Matthew Tkachuk has been injured and isn’t expected to be available for an indefinite amount of time.