Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers are learning why completing a three-peat is so difficult in the NHL. The fact the Cats are missing players like Brad Marchand and some of the best players in the league definitely does them no favors, either.
Shortly after Tkachuk made his season debut—appearing in his first game since Game 6 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final—Florida saw both Marchand and Anton Lundell sustain injuries. Now, Sam Bennett has been injured as well.
Needless to say, the odds are not in the Panthers’ favor to make the postseason. A miracle may be needed, and Tkachuk didn’t sugarcoat that feeling when he addressed the media following the 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, the team’s fourth-straight in the 2025-26 NHL season.
“We are in trouble now,” Tkachuk stated, via Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. “If we don’t simplify (our game), this year is going to get away from us.”
Playoff race is getting away from Panthers
The Panthers are spiraling out of control. Florida now drags a four-game losing streak—with three of those losses coming at home. The Panthers sit nine points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Moreover, every team currently holding a playoff position is on a heater, while the reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup champions can’t build momentum. That’s nearly impossible to do when stars go down with injuries on a nightly basis.
Injury-plagued Panthers
Tkachuk and the Panthers would love to have Marchand back on the lineup. The 37-year-old veteran has been the best player on the team this season—and arguably ever since he arrived in Sunrise last year. However, with just two games left on the schedule before the 2026 Olympics, it doesn’t look like Florida will risk Marchand missing the one tournament he’s always dreamed of playing in.
In the meantime, the Panthers must weather the storm with the available pieces they have. Florida is currently missing all five centers who played during their 2025 Stanley Cup run (Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, Anton Lundell, Tomas Nosek, and Nico Sturm).
On the defensive side of the puck, the Cats are missing much security on the blueline as Dmitry Kulikov and Seth Jones remain sidelined with long-term injuries. Needless to say, the blueprint for back-to-back Cups has gone up in flames and now looks like a recipe for disaster.