NHL columnist reports Brady Tkachuk told Senators for years he wouldn’t re-sign
In a stunning development regarding Brady Tkachuk, the former Ottawa Senators captain reportedly told his teammates for four years about not looking to re-sign. It was on June 21 when he left them to join the Florida Panthers in a trade deal involving four draft picks, to link up with his older brother Matthew Tkachuk.
NHL columnist from Postmedia, Bruce Garrioch, talked about the situation regarding Brady Tkachuk and the Senators on the Sens 1-on-1 show earlier this week.
“Bruce Garrioch: Re Brady Tkachuk/Senators: For the last four years, he’s told his teammates in that dressing room that he had no intention of re-signing – Sens 1-on-1 (6/22),” reported X account NHL Rumour Report on June 27.
The Panthers transferred the No. 9 and No. 25 picks in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft to the Senators for bringing in Brady Tkachuk. They also gave them a conditional first-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.
Notably, Brady Tkachuk has two seasons remaining of his seven-year contract worth $57.5 million, signed with the Senators on October 14, 2021. The Panthers will take over the final two seasons of his $8.2 million average annual value (AAV) deal.
In a report published in the Ottawa Citizen, Garrioch expanded further on the situation by stating that Brady Tkachuk initially wanted to play for the Senators till the 2027-28 season. He wrote about how the 26-year-old wanted to see his current contract with the Senators expire before the plan to not re-sign would have gone into motion.
It meant that Steve Staios, the Senators’ president of hockey operations and general manager, took the tough call to trade him to the Panthers to join his brother Matthew.
As the 26-year-old steps into a new chapter, he leaves a message for the fans.
Brady Tkachuk bid an emotional farewell to the Ottawa Senators fans
Brady Tkachuk bid a farewell to the Ottawa Senators fans with an emotional message on The Wingmen podcast, which he started with his brother Matthew Tkachuk last year.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone in the city [of Ottawa],” he said in the presence of Matthew on June 23. “Everybody welcomed me from Day 1, treated me like I was from there. Treated me like family. I’ll just never forget that.”
The American winger talked about having “so many great memories in Ottawa,” while calling it “a special place” in his life. He shared his excitement about starting a “new chapter” alongside his brother at the Florida Panthers, the winners of back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2024 and 2025.
Also, on the same podcast episode, Brady Tkachuk admitted that it was “a very hard decision” for him to leave the Ottawa Senators after captaining them for the last five seasons. In the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, he took them to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a long wait since his NHL career began with them in 2018.
Moreover, in another report from Garrioch, published in the Ottawa Citizen, he is staying with his brother Matthew’s family in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, while house hunting in the city.
Is Brady Tkachuk going to set the ice alight alongside his brother, Matthew Tkachuk, at the Florida Panthers? Share with us your thoughts in the comments.
