‘Really hard decision’: Tkachuk talks Ottawa exit

LAS VEGAS – Brady Tkachuk could not have been more emphatic. He also seemed slightly annoyed.

The Ottawa Senators had just been swept in the first round of the NHL playoffs. Their captain was still processing the bitter disappointment.

Tkachuk was also clear when he was again asked — the rumblings were nothing new — about his long-term future in the nation’s capital despite the two seasons remaining on his contract.

“I feel like I’ve answered this hundreds of times,” he said in late April. “None of those things ever came out of my mouth. Quite honestly, it’s just getting frustrating. It’s becoming a distraction. I have been fully committed to this team, to this city, and it’s just become a distraction and frustrating to deal with.”

Less than two months later, Tkachuk was shaking hands with Florida general manager Bill Zito in Fort Lauderdale as the newest member of the Panthers.

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Tkachuk had quietly indicated to the Senators following that four-game dusting by the Carolina Hurricanes — a relentless outfit that would go onto win the franchise’s second Stanley Cup — he would like to be traded and didn’t plan on re-signing with the organization that drafted him No. 4 overall at the 2018 draft.

So what changed between the time of that forceful Ottawa declaration and the subsequent request to move on?

Senators fans didn’t get many answers from Tkachuk’s first public, in-depth conversation about events when he sat down with a small group of reporters Tuesday at the annual NHL/NHLPA player media tour inside a cavernous luxury hotel complex just off Sin City’s famed strip.

He began by stating there’s “information and narratives out there that aren’t completely true.”

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“A lot of time, a lot of reflection, and it wasn’t an easy decision,” Tkachuk continued. “It was a really, really hard decision, and something that was emotional. It took a lot of time to get to that.”

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The 26-year-old, who will join older brother Matthew in Florida after the pair helped the United States beat Canada for gold at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, thanked Senators owner Michael Andlauer and general manager Steve Staios for keeping things quiet following his trade ask.

That also meant his teammates were in the dark until shortly before the news dropped.

“It was a small group of people that knew,” Tkachuk said. “But I made some phone calls after. There’s some guys that I spent eight years with … through a lot of tough times. And I think through those tough times, through the adversity, you just get so close that they’re not just teammates — they’re family.

“I had conversations with a couple guys.”

That family, however, was bruised by its emotional leader packing up and heading out of town after a glacial rebuild that finally resulted in post-season appearances the last two springs.

“You want guys want to be here,” Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot told reporters in Ottawa at the team’s golf tournament. “You want guys to want to be part of this team and city … I’d be lying to say I was happy when he decided to leave.”

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Fellow blueliner Jake Sanderson, who sat down with reporters right after Tkachuk exited the other end of the room, said the pair remain close friends despite the stunning departure that resulted in draft capital coming back the other way.

“Steve Staios just called me,” he said. “That was the first that I heard of it. It was actually the day I got engaged, so it was a really weird day, for sure — a lot of emotions. It was tough.”

Sanderson, who was also on the U.S. Olympic team, said it’s not a surprise Tkachuk wanted to play with brother Matthew.

“I don’t blame him for that,” Sanderson said. “But absolutely I think we’re a team that’s getting a lot better and has a window here to win a Stanley Cup. That part of it is tough.”

The Senators and their fans won’t have to wait long to see Tkachuk, who has two seasons remaining on a contract carrying a US$8.22-million average annual value originally signed in October 2021, in opposition colours.

Ranked fifth in Ottawa franchise history with 463 points and 10th with 572 games played, the six-foot-four, 226-pound winger and the Panthers — Cup winners in 2024 and 2025 — will visit his old stomping grounds Oct. 21.

“I don’t really have an expectation,” Tkachuk said of the crowd reaction. “Whatever it is, it just shows how great of a fan base it is. If it’s negative, it just shows how passionate the fans are, and how I enjoyed playing in front of them and how special it was. If it’s positive, I’m just really grateful for my time there.”

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One thing is almost certain — emotions will be running high on and off the ice.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Tkachuk said of pulling up stakes and heading south. “It was really hard … there’s a lot of people there in Ottawa that I love so much.

“Like they’re my own family.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2026.