The Buffalo Sabres are hoping to one day get what the Florida Panthers have been able to achieve, which is back-to-back Stanley Cup championships and in great position to win a third this season. One of the key players to their success has been Matthew Tkachuk but the Panthers are going to be really tested this season as Tkachuk is now reportedly set to be out until Janaury after offseason surgery.
Tkachuk suffered the injured during the 4 Nations Face-off and was able to play through the injury for the rest of the season and the playoffs. However, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that Tkachuk elected to get surgery to fix the injury and "timeline is unclear, but he could be out of action until sometime in January."
Florida Panthers could be without Matthew Tkachuk for two of the four games against the Buffalo Sabres
If this timeline holds for Tkachuk, the Buffalo Sabres would only have to potentially play against Matthew Tkachuk once during the regular season. The first game against the Panthers is early in the season as Florida visits Buffalo on October 18th.
The next matchup is a few months later and this is when Tkachuk could be back as the Sabres play Florida once again at home on January 12th. The final two regular season meetings are on the road in Florida on February 2nd and February 27th.
Even without Tkachuk, this is going to be a tough matchup for the Buffalo Sabres but could be a good test to see how much they have improved. It is not a game they should expect to win but if they remain competitive against arguably the best team in the NHL, even being short-handed, it could be a good sign that this will be a more productive season that recent years.