Everyone always talked about and porjected that Brady Tkachuk would one day seek a trade away from the Ottawa Senators to go play for an American powerhouse, but that didn’t make it any less shocking to see it actually happen.
Even heading into this offseason, it wasn’t widely expected that Tkachuk would be on the move. In fact, it was far more surprising than not to see the Senators captain dealt to the Florida Panthers in a blockbuster that reunites him with his brother, Matthew.
It didn’t, however, come out of left field for GM Steve Staios, who recently revealed that he had felt a Tkachuk exit was brewing for the last year and a half during a recent sit-down interview with team reporter Alex Adams.
“It became fairly clear to me as we were going through this that, over probably the last year and a half, where it seemed to me that it was moving in that direction. We were hoping it would be different. I did everything I could to protect and deflect and ensure that you create the right environment for all of our players to have success. And then you engage in the process, it’s all part of the job. I’m not the first manager to go through it,”
The 26-year-old Tkachuk was, of course, traded to the Panthers in exchange for two 2026 first-round picks, a 2027 second-round pick, and a conditional 2029 first-round pick.
Staios’ comments would suggest that, from the 4 Nations Face-Off onward, it began to feel like the start of the end for Tkachuk’s time in Ottawa.
That’s understandable given the success and how much he seemed to enjoy playing with his brother and fellow Americans for Team USA.
You can’t blame him for that, but at the same time, he can’t expect Senators fans to welcome him back all that warmly when he’s back in town in the years to come.
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