Brady Tkachuk bid a fond farewell to the fans of the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

“I just want to say thank you to everyone in the city,” Tkachuk said. “Everybody welcomed me from Day 1, treated me like I was from there. Treated me like family. I’ll just never forget that.”

It likely fell on deaf ears.

Traded to the Florida Panthers on Sunday by the Senators for three first-round picks and a second-round selection in 2027, Tkachuk started The Wingmen Podcast with his brother/new teammate Matthew by thanking the people of Ottawa for the support he received in the nation’s capital.

“I have so many great memories in Ottawa. It’s such a special place to me,” Brady said. “I’m excited for this new chapter. It’s been a whirlwind.”Article content

Tkachuk, who is staying with Matthew’s family while house hunting in Fort Lauderdale, was introduced at a press conference in South Florida on Tuesday morning. Then, the duo appeared together on the wildly popular Pat McAfee Show during the lunch hour.

He said that it was “time,” and that’s why he asked the Senators for a trade at the end of the year.

Why was it ‘time’ to move?

“There is definitely a lot of different things that have happened throughout my time there and, for me, I think it was just no time for the next chapter, and it wasn’t an easy decision, it was something that I took a little bit more time than what’s been out there to make that decision,” Tkachuk said.

“It was a very hard decision and there are a lot more things that go into it, but for me, very thankful for what they’ve done for me, and not just as a player, but moulded me into the human that I am today, and the person I am today, and that’s something I could carry into the future.”

He made it clear he chose the Panthers because he wants to win a Stanley Cup and feels the organization is focused on that goal every year.

“I can’t believe it’s real,” Tkachuk said. “The sole focus here is about excellence and they’ve shown over the last few years that the goal is the Stanley Cup.”

Tkachuk confirmed he asked for a trade because “it was time.”

While Steve Staios, the Senators’ president of hockey operations and general manager, told reporters on Monday that he felt Tkachuk only wanted to play with Matthew, Brady claimed during the podcast that he took his brother out of the equation and went to Florida because it’s the best chance to win.

Why the Panthers?

“I’ve always said this, if we weren’t even brothers, Florida has always been the toughest game,” Tkachuk told Matthew. “These last bunch of years playing against just the way you guys play, and then the winning background shows it’s all about winning, and we have guys that came from different spots, came from different teams, and found a lot of success.

“I made this decision, taking you out of it. It wasn’t about you … you know how much I love you. But I have always, every single time after playing you guys just like, ‘Holy cow, that team is incredible and they have a chance to win every single year.’ So I think that was that, and that went a part of the decision.”

Matthew said Brady chose Florida for the right reasons. Yes, the Panthers missed the playoffs last spring after winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, but everybody expects they’ll be competitive again next season after battling through injuries in 2025-26.

“I don’t want to speak for Brady, but I think the reason Brady wants this is that it’s an attractive situation,” Matthew said. “We have a chance to win every year and we go for it every year. That’s all a player wants.

“They don’t give a s*** where it is or what life is like outside. I guess you do, but you don’t want to go anywhere if our team wasn’t good or wasn’t winning.

“Brady’s not sniffing it down here. He wants no part of it. This is really exciting for us. It proves to the players that were already here we feel like a team that has a chance.”

You get the feeling that Brady didn’t feel like he had that opportunity with the Senators after spending eight years with the organization. The Senators have made the playoffs the last two seasons, but were eliminated in the first round twice, including a four-game sweep last spring.

Like a lot of Ottawa fans, the Florida dressing room was shocked that nobody from the club’s roster was traded as part of the deal. Instead, Panthers GM Bill Zito refused to give up anybody.

“It’s incredible that Brady’s coming in without anybody leaving,” Matthew said. “We need Brady. We need him badly.”

The time has come to move on.