Panthers exit interviews: Tkachuk talks possible surgery, Ekblad talks contract
The Florida Panthers held their exit interviews with the media on Saturday, one day before the team's parade to celebrate their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship.
Here are some of the notables from the interview sessions.
Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk played through the entire postseason with torn adductor muscle, which had torn all the way off the bone, in addition to a sports hernia that he had sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in mid-February.
'He was a mess,' Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
Yet despite missing the final 25 games of the season and being uncertain for the start of the playoffs, Tkachuk played in every game of the postseason and finished averaging a point per game — 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 23 games — while fighting through the injury.
Tkachuk said he might have to get surgery this summer but nothing is definitive just yet.
'I don't know yet,' Tkachuk said. 'I've gotta go through some steps here and then see if I need surgery or not. It's it's gonna take a few weeks to determine if I need it. Probably 50-50 right now. I don't know if it'll be a normal summer or not. I hope so. I'm just gonna jump right into surgery without talking to everybody and going through everything. I mean, I have a few weeks here where I can figure it out.'
Regardless, it will not be a 'normal summer' for Tkachuk for personal reasons — he's getting married.
Top-pair defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who has been with the Panthers his entire career since being selected No. 1 overall in 2014, is due to become a free agent on July 1 unless he signs an extension before that.
Ekblad said 'conversations have been had,' but a deal hasn't materialized just yet.
'They'll be working on it,' Ekblad said. 'Things like to seem to come down to the last minute here.'
Ekblad has mentioned time and again how much he wants to stay with the Panthers. He's a lifer, with 732 career regular-season games played and 83 playoff games.
'It's part of who I am at this point,' Ekblad said. 'I've spent 11 years here. That's more than I've spent in any home or city in my life. It's home, and I expect it to be home.'
The Panthers certainly have been enjoying themselves the past few days, making multiple trips to the Elbo Room on Fort Lauderdale Beach, a stop at the Miami nightclub E11even, going out to team dinners and taking a boat ride.
Things have gotten chaotic at times, but after becoming just the seventh team in the expansion era of the NHL to win the Cup in consecutive years, yeah, they're taking the time to celebrate.
'We're not toning it down,' Ekblad said. 'We just won two Stanley Cups in a row; we deserve to have a good time. We have good people in that room, so anything…if people think we're crossing the line, there's no chance. We're just having a good time, it's pure excitement. There's obviously a respect factor, and, you know, personally, I try to toe that line, but, no, it's all fun, and you know, we deserve it, for sure.'
Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said the team is able to enjoy itself more this time around because they 'know the feeling already a little bit.'
'Don't get me wrong, it's still amazing,' Barkov said, 'but now everyone just knows how to sit back a little bit and enjoy it because last year was so hectic. It happened and it's your first time ever, and you've been dreaming about it for such a long time. I feel like this year, everyone gave permission to themselves to enjoy it. We've had a good time.'
Who's been the party MVP at this point?
'I don't see how Barky doesn't get his jersey retired at E11even,' Tkachuk said with a smile. 'He was incredible. E-Rod [Evan Rodrigues] was on another level. Marchy [Brad Marchand] has been Marchy. I'd say Reino has been really good, too. It's been great for me. I'm just able to hide in the weeds this year, and I feel like I've been doing pretty good, as well. But there's been some guys that have put in quite a shift. It's been an impressive outing from the team.'
Now, the partying has led to some dings and dents on the Stanley Cup. Has the team heard from the Hall of Fame about that?
'No. I think they've seen worse,' Barkov said. 'I think every week, they have to go and fix some part of it. But yeah, don't be stupid. Don't take it to the ocean, stuff like that. We should know the rules by now.'
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said that, yes, he will be wearing a shirt depicting his two cats (Penny and Poppy) at the team's parade on Sunday, just like he did last year.
'I don't have a choice,' Maurice said. 'That's I deal I made a couple years ago.'
Maurice also said his speech at the parade this year will be 'PG-rated' compared to the one he gave last year.
As for how the coach has celebrated the past few days compared to his players?
'I haven't had a hangover yet, so way ahead of where I was last year,' he said.
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