Brady Tkachuk is on his way to Florida, where he will team up with his older brother Matthew on the Panthers in what stands as one of the most significant NHL offseason transactions in recent years.
The Ottawa Senators announced Sunday that they are sending their team captain to Florida in exchange for a collection of draft picks. As part of the deal, Ottawa will receive two of Florida’s first-round selections in this year’s draft — ninth and 25th overall — plus a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2029 and a second-round selection in 2027.
Florida had picked up that 25th overall pick earlier the same day by sending forward Mackie Samoskevich to the Seattle Kraken.
The acquisition gives the Panthers another elite power forward while also reuniting the Tkachuk brothers at the NHL level. Brady, 26, and Matthew, 28, were teammates on Team USA’s gold medal-winning Olympic squad earlier this year. Now they’ll look to bring championship glory back to Florida after the Panthers missed the playoffs this past season — a notable stumble following back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.
“Brady is a dynamic competitor and one of the most physical and relentless forwards in the league,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “A proven leader and exactly the type of player we want in our locker room, he strives to make everyone around him better both on and off the ice. We’re thrilled to welcome Brady to South Florida to join our group as we continue our pursuit of championship hockey.”
The trade marks a major turning point for Ottawa, which originally selected Tkachuk fourth overall in the 2018 draft and built its franchise identity around him. He spent eight seasons with the Senators and wore the captain’s ‘C’ for the last five of those years.
As recently as April, Tkachuk had pushed back on questions about whether he might leave Ottawa, following the team’s first-round playoff exit.
“I feel like I’ve answered this hundreds of times,” Tkachuk said at that time. “None of that, I feel like I’ve never shown, I’ve never said, none of those things ever came out of my mouth. And quite honestly, it’s just getting frustrating. It’s becoming a distraction, because I have been fully committed to this team, to the city and it’s just becoming a distraction and frustrating to deal with.”
During the most recent regular season, Tkachuk recorded 22 goals and 37 assists across 60 games. Ottawa made the playoffs for the second consecutive year but was swept in the first round by the Carolina Hurricanes, who went on to win the Stanley Cup. Tkachuk failed to register a single point throughout that series.
Over the course of his career, the four-time All-Star has accumulated 213 goals and 250 assists in 572 regular-season games, adding four goals and three assists in 10 career playoff appearances.
With two years still remaining on his contract at an $8.2 million salary cap figure, Florida is getting more than a temporary solution. The Panthers already boast a talented core that includes Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Gustav Forsling, and Anton Lundell.
For Ottawa, the haul of three first-round picks and a future second-round pick gives the franchise significant assets as it looks to replace its captain and continue developing its younger players.
“This was not a decision we took lightly, but ultimately we did what we felt was best for the long-term future of our hockey club,” Senators general manager Steve Staios said in a statement. “We now possess cap space and draft capital and will be actively working to improve our roster.”
