When we last heard from Brady Tkachuk, he was, once again, trying to bury any trade rumours. It was something we had heard him have to answer several times before, although this time seemed to have a different tone to it in that he admitted to the frustration of it all.
“I feel like I’ve answered this hundreds of times,” Tkachuk said about rumours he would not stay in Ottawa long-term after the Senators' first-round exit. “That none of that, I’ve never shown, I’ve never said, none of those things ever came out of my mouth. Quite honestly, it’s just getting frustrating. It’s becoming a distraction. I have been fully committed to this team, this city.
In hindsight, the distraction had already grown too big and the writing was on the wall. Tkachuk wasn't going to re-sign in Ottawa when his contract expired in 2028 and so GM Steve Staios made the tough call to cut bait now and recoup a haul of futures.
In all, Ottawa got three first-round picks and a second-rounder for its captain Sunday. That may have been the easy part. Tkachuk wanted to go to Florida and Florida wanted to unite Brady with brother Matthew. Earlier in the day the Panthers made a separate trade with Seattle to send youngster (and obvious trade candidate) Mackie Samoskevich out west for the 25th-overall pick this year and a second-rounder in 2027. They then used that 25th-overall pick in the package to acquire Brady.
The tough part for Ottawa comes next. This is not a rebuilding outfit. On the contrary. The Senators took a big step this season and established themselves as a staunch defensive team, one of the tougher opponents to face in the entire league over the back end of the season. If not for a brutal first-round matchup against the eventual-champion Carolina Hurricanes, they had Cinderella potential. So how do you build on that when your captain is traded away?
Staios' challenge now is to turn these futures into impactful NHL players so the Senators can keep pace in an Atlantic Division that's getting tougher by the day.
In Florida, the mood is entirely different.
After a lot of bad injury luck set them back enough that they missed the playoffs and ended up with the ninth-overall pick, that result may end up helping the franchise extend its contending window. By adding a soon-to-be 28-year-old Tkachuk with that high pick as a key asset the other way, Florida gets another prime-aged player who fits in seamlessly with their relentless style. Of the 12 'core' players on the team, only two (Brad Marchand and Seth Jones) are over 30 years old. Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe are 30 on the nose, but that is not old age here. And with everyone on multi-year contracts, we can see another three years on the horizon where Florida should be a menace in the East.
Of course, there is one caveat to that.
While today's trade for Brady Tkachuk is massive for the Panthers, their work this summer is not done. Both of last year's goalies — Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov — have contracts expiring on July 1 and are on track to become UFAs. The Panthers do not have a goalie right now. And with Nick Kypreos reporting last week that Bobrovsky was looking for a long-term deal ahead of his 38th birthday, they may have to go looking elsewhere.
This trade is a win, but there is another big acquisition or two to come. Is a Jordan Binnington trade the way to go? Is a Connor Hellebuyck trade a possibility? Is there another candidate we cannot yet see through the trade mists? There's no doubt Florida GM Bill Zito has mapped out a few plans and we will see how the Panthers act on those in the days to come. Florida has less than $8 million in cap space to figure it out with.
As it looks now, Florida has taken another step forward uniting the Tkachuks, but the unanswered goalie question is a big one. The Senators' view is incomplete in that we have to wait and see what they can turn these picks into before ultimately being able to judge if they came out of the Tkachuk era better, or worse.
For more on the Father's Day blockbuster, scout Jason Bukala takes a look at Brady's fit with Florida, what some lines might look like, and how tough of a situation Ottawa found itself in.
Scout's Analysis
Sometimes in sports, organizations have to take charge of their future by dealing with the current reality they are presented with.
The Vancouver Canucks, for example, found themselves in an uncomfortable scenario with their captain Quinn Hughes this past season and eventually made the decision they felt was best for their franchise by trading him to the Minnesota Wild.
The Ottawa Senators, unfortunately, found themselves in a similar scenario this off-season with their captain Brady Tkachuk. After reading colleague Elliotte Friedman’s reporting, it appears Ottawa had no choice but to act on Tkachuk’s wishes after his year-end exit interview didn’t provide certainty that their captain would commit to Ottawa beyond the remaining two years on his contract.
The time had arrived to act, and I have to give Sens GM Steve Staois full credit for pulling the trigger on a trade that could result in some high-end prospects to significantly impact their roster for years to come.
Here’s a look at Ottawa's pick board heading into next weekend’s draft in Buffalo:
For insight into who Ottawa could target with their first six picks, make sure to check out my own ranking of the top 100 prospects for this year's draft.
What Florida gets in Brady Tkachuk and where he fits in the lineup
Florida entered the 2025-26 season as the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. The Panthers had their sights set on another deep run this past spring but the injury bug bit them hard at training camp and affected them throughout the season. Captain Aleksander Barkov suffered a knee injury that kept him out of action the entire regular season, while winger Matthew Tkachuk missed a large chunk of the year rehabbing an injury from the previous season. The Panthers ended up losing 541 total man games to injury.
With Florida’s roster returning to health at the start of next season, the Panthers were already well-positioned to contend once again. The addition of Brady Tkachuk adds another layer of leadership, truculence, physicality and offence to an already deep Panthers roster.
My honest assessment is that he basically fits anywhere into this lineup. Everyone in hockey knows the six-foot-four, 227-pound power forward is a handful to play against. He provides offence, pushes back physically, fights, and does whatever is required to help his team win games.
Tkachuk doesn’t turn 27 until September. He’s in the prime of his career and should provide Florida with top-six minutes for several years. He will be due a raise by the time his current contract expires in two years, but for now his affordable cap hit counts for $8.205 million for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons.
Tkachuk’s offensive output has been trending around a point-per-game the past couple of years. I don’t see him outscoring that pace in Florida necessarily, but it’s possible he'll land on a line with his brother Matthew and that the two siblings will further elevate their games in the process. My partners at puckpedia.com have updated the Panthers' depth chart to look like the following, and I agree with their assessment:
The addition of Brady Tkachuk provides an already deep, physical forward group in Florida with another layer of distraction. Tkachuk averages around 17 minutes per game of ice time mainly at even strength and on the power play. Just two seasons ago he scored 14 power-play goals for the Senators.
The Panthers will be well-rested come September and a team that already plays with a chip on its shoulder just got even harder to play against with this addition.
There is no question that the Panthers remain in win-now mode. They have traded away prospects and draft capital alike for several years now and the two Stanley Cups speak for themselves. As long as they keep winning. they won’t worry about stockpiling assets through the draft. But if they stumble, it has to be noted Florida doesn’t currently own a first-round pick until 2030.
