Matthew Tkachuk Officially Ruled out For the Remainder Of the Regular Season

Florida Panthers left winger Matthew Tkachuk has been placed on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury, The Hockey News' David Dwork writes, and confirmed by PuckPedia.

The injury from the 4 Nations Face-Off has kept Tkachuk out of the past four games. There is no indication yet when Tkachuk will be back, but based off the latest LTIR placement, it likely won't be until at least the playoffs.

Tkachuk has been a force to be reckoned with on the Panthers' offense this season, appearing in 52 games and recording 22 goals and 35 assists for 57 points. He has also recorded 156 shots, 84 hits, and 54 penalty minutes.

On offense, he has also amassed at least a goal in 17 games and at least an assist in 25 games. Along with this comes five multi-goal games and eight multi-assist games, which indicate his ability to perform in clutch situations.

Without Tkachuk, the Panthers have filled his spot with Evan Rodrigues and Mackie Samoskevich in key roles in the team's top-six forwards.

Now that he is gone, there is a huge void in the Florida lineup as Tkachuk is one of the most lethal goal-scorers in the league.

The team will need to go out and try and keep its offense rolling and wait for him to return and be inserted back into the lineup, hopefully in time for the start of the playoffs in mid to late April.