Ice Chips: Florida Panthers F Matthew Tkachuk returns Tuesday after a five-game absence

Stay on top of all the injury news and roster updates from around the NHL with daily Ice Chips.

Florida Panthers

Matthew Tkachuk will return Tuesday after a five-game absence, head coach Paul Maurice announced Tuesday morning.

The 26-year-old has missed his team’s last five games due to what was initially reported as an illness, but Tkachuk revealed after practice that he was recovering from an unspecified procedure, as reported by Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald.

Tkachuk has two assists in two games played this season, and will look to build on that total on Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild.

Maurice also confirmed G Sergei Bobrovsky as his starting goalkeeper for Tuesday’s match. This season, the Russian netminder has a 3-1-1 record in five starts, with a 2.95 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage.

Montreal Canadians

F Juraj Slafkovsky will be out at least a week with an upper-body injury, TSN’s Kenzie Lalonde reports.

Slafkovsky suffered an apparent shoulder injury in practice last week but recorded two assists in 15:57 of ice time during the Canadiens’ 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday.

The former first overall pick of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft skated alone before Tuesday’s optional skate, but left the ice before the main session.

The 20-year-old has scored one goal and six points this season and is coming off a breakout 2023-24 season that saw him record his first 50-point season.

Michael Pezetta will take Slafkovsky’s place in the lineup on Tuesday, Lalonde reports.

The 26-year-old Pezetta will make his 2024-25 season debut for Montreal against the New York Rangers on Tuesday. In 61 games with the Canadiens last year, the Toronto native recorded three goals and nine assists.

Islanders of New York

The New York Islanders have recalled forward Liam Foudy from Bridgeport (AHL), the team announced on Tuesday.

Julien Gauthier was cleared off waivers following Anthony Duclair’s injury and was sent to Bridgeport in a corresponding move.

Foudy has four assists in five games at the AHL level this season. He joined the Islanders as a free agent and signed a one-year contract with the team last season.

The 24-year-old spent most of last season with the Nashville Predators’ AHL club, Milwaukee Admirals, where he scored 10 goals and six assists in 28 games.

Previously a first-round selection of the Blue Jackets in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Foudy spent parts of five seasons in Columbus before being claimed off waivers by the Predators last season.