Brady Tkachuk will make his return to Ottawa as a member of the Florida Panthers on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

The former Senators captain’s return to the Canadian Tire Centre is one of the most notable dates of the upcoming regular season as the NHL unveiled the full 2026-27 schedule on Thursday.

Some other notable returns for players who switched the teams this off-season will come much later in the season.

Sergei Bobrovsky, who signed with the rival Toronto Maple Leafs on July after a seven-year run with the Panthers that included two Stanley Cups, will make his return to Sunrise on March 6.

Brendan Gallagher, whose 14-year tenure with the Montreal Canadiens came to an end last month with a trade to the Vancouver Canucks, will also make his return to the Bell Centre on March 6.

Newly acquired New York Rangers winger Pavel Dorofeyev will face his former team, the Vegas Golden Knights in Sin City on March 13, six days after playing Vegas in New York.

Leo Carlsson remained a member of the Anaheim Ducks this summer as the team matched the five-year offer sheet at an NHL-record $18 million cap hit he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers. Carlsson will play with the Ducks in Philadelphia on Oct. 24 and the Ducks will then host the now-rival Flyers on Jan. 3.

The Tkachuk trade remains the biggest move of the NHL off-season. The 26-year-old winger requested a trade out of the nation’s capital before he was dealt to the Panthers in exchange for the No. 9 and No. 25 picks in the draft in June as well as a conditional first-rounder in 2029 and a second-round pick in 2027.

The Sens then flipped the No. 9 pick to the San Jose Sharks and acquired forwards William Eklund, Kasper Halttunen, and the rights to unsigned draft pick Brandon Svoboda.

“To be a part of a Stanley Cup-winning team is something that has always been my motivation and they have the pedigree,” Tkachuk said following the trade. “Every time playing them, and after the game, it’s all about winning. There’s nothing about individuals or individual success. The sole focus in here is about excellence. And they’ve shown the last bunch of years of how excellent of a team they are and their sole focus is a Stanley Cup.”

Tkachuk had spent the entirety of his eight-year NHL career in Ottawa, but requested the move to Florida to join his brother, Olympic teammate and podcast co-host, Matthew.

Tkachuk was Ottawa’s captain for the past five seasons, and was their leader in goals (213), points (463), power-play goals (62), shots (2,202), hits (1,921), winning goals (28), multigoal games (30) and penalty minutes (821) in his tenure with the club, which acquired him with the No. 4 pick in the 2018 draft.

The Senators will open their season in Toronto against the Maple Leafs as part of a three-game road trip to open the 84-game season. They will host the Philadelphia Flyers for their home opener on Oct. 8.