Elliotte Friedman shares concern around Matthew Tkachuk's lingering injury - "Goes back to his 4 Nations fight with Hagel"

Matthew Tkachuk has been banged up for pretty much the entirety of the second half of the 2024-25 season. He got hurt at the 4 Nations Face-Off before missing the rest of the regular season.

He would return in round one of the playoffs and has remained a key piece of the Florida Panthers team that has now made it back to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Ahead of a heavyweight bout with the Carolina Hurricanes, Elliotte Friedman expressed some concern for his health and detailed how far back this issue has gone.

The NHL insider said on "32 Thoughts" (32:00):

"He's legitimately hurt, watching him this week. There were a lot of people that were not convinced he was going to be able to play again this year. So I really respect the fact that he's gutting it out. But it says to me that those people were more right about what he's dealing with than anyone's going to admit at this time."

He continued, saying Tkachuk even went to Germany to get a specialist's help for the injury during the season:

"It goes right back to the Four Nations, probably during the fight with Hagel, where it all happened. People believe so, I really respect him, gutting it out. Can they keep going like this without Tkachuk having an offensive impact? We'll find out."

The Panthers ousted the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 thanks to a six-goal performance, but Tkachuk didn't record a point.

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Matthew Tkachuk gives grace to Maple Leafs after win

Matthew Tkachuk, always a feisty competitor on the ice, was nothing but a gracious winner after his team defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Matthew Tkachuk feels bad for the Maple Leafs (Imagn)

The Florida Panthers star admitted via Athlon Sports:

"Sometimes you feel bad for them because they have some unbelievable players and a great team. I was actually saying this last night to some of the guys. If their team was not in Toronto, dealing with all the crazy circus stuff outside of it, they'd be an unbelievable team and such a hard team to play. They just have so much to deal with, and I feel bad."

This is a sentiment that Tkachuk's teammate, Brad Marchand, also echoed after the clutch victory.