The Florida Panthers expect forward Matthew Tkachuk to be sidelined until December while he recovers from offseason surgery to deal with a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle, general manager Bill Zito said Wednesday.

The timeline is fluid, since there are various benchmarks that Tkachuk has to continue hitting in his recovery before the Panthers can further evaluate. The Panthers also expect Tomas Nosek to be out indefinitely, after he was injured during the offseason.

“It's going to be months, for sure,” Zito said of Nosek.

Tkachuk missed the final 25 games of the regular season last spring but was able to play through both injuries for the Panthers when the team won its second consecutive Stanley Cup championship. He had surgery in August.

The Panthers open training camp on Thurs

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