Last month, Brady Tkachuk was dealt from the Ottawa Senators to the Florida Panthers in a blockbuster trade that sent the No. 9 and No. 25 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, a conditional first-round selection in the 2029 Draft, and a 2027 second-round pick back to Ottawa.
The No. 25 pick included in the deal had originally been acquired by Florida earlier that same day in a separate transaction with the Seattle Kraken involving forward Mackie Samoskevich.
It brought an end to the Tkachuk era with the Senators, who made him their captain and also selected him in the opening round of the 2018 NHL Draft. He now gets to play with his brother Matthew, who has a pair of Stanley Cup rings and with whom he hosts a podcast.
But in the words of an NHL Insider, Senators players began getting distracted by Tkachuk, especially after the Olympics in the winter.
Brady Tkachuk Caused Distractions For Ottawa Senators Players, According To NHL Insider
According to NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman, there were multiple Senators players who grew weary of Tkachuk’s podcast – especially after the 2026 Milan Olympics that resulted in a historic gold medal victory for Team USA.
Additionally, Friedman revealed that an anonymous Senators player informed him that his podcast also caused issues in the room.
“The Tkachuk thing, we talked about this at length, and it was time to end the noise around the whole situation. As we talked about in a previous pod, post-Olympics, it was time. A lot was going on, and the players were tired of it,” Friedman said.
“One of the players said the only thing he felt that we should have added was the podcast. And he said the podcast caused some problems, and it was just time. It’s better for the Senators just to end the noise,” he said.
So far to date, Jake Sanderson is the only Senators player who publicly acknowledged Tkachuk’s departure, while there remained multitudes of upset Ottawa fans. The Senators even recently ran a promotion in which fans could exchange their Tkachuk jerseys for a special discount on a replacement.
Brady Tkachuk Is Excited To Join The Panthers
Brady Tkachuk is excited to join the Panthers, who landed his brother Matthew in a blockbuster trade in the summer of 2022 from the Calgary Flames. Upon his arrival in Florida, Tkachuk helped the Panthers to three consecutive appearances in the Stanley Cup Final, the latter two of which resulted in Cup wins over the Edmonton Oilers.
And now, Brady is excited to join that mix of players.
“It’s probably the closest group in the League,” Tkachuk said of the Panthers at his introductory press conference. “It’s just everybody’s always doing stuff together. Everything’s done by committee and everybody’s a part of the puzzle.
“Their sole focus is winning, and that’s something I’m just excited to join and help out. … I’m just really excited for this next chapter.”
The Panthers have every intention of returning to Cup contention after an injury-riddled 2025-26 resulted in missing the postseason, and they’re banking on Brady Tkachuk to play a key role in that.
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