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Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators

On Sunday, the Ottawa Senators dealt captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers, where he joins his brother Matthew Tkachuk on an already championship-built roster. Matthew arrived in Florida in a major trade from the Calgary Flames four years ago and has since added two Stanley Cup titles to his résumé.

After years of limited playoff success in Ottawa—just two postseason wins since debuting in 2018—Brady now gets a chance to chase a far deeper run. In exchange, Ottawa did not acquire any active NHL players or prospects, instead stockpiling draft assets that include the No. 9 and No. 25 selections in the 2026 NHL Draft, a top-10 protected 2029 first-round pick, and a 2027 second-round pick.

But Tkachuk has become the latest American-born captain of a Canadian-based NHL team to have requested a trade, which did not sit well with the Insiders at TSN’s OverDrive.

TSN Blasted Former Ottawa Senators Captain Brady Tkachuk’s Trade Request

Speaking on TSN’s OverDrive, Insider Bryan Hayes blasted Tkachuk for his trade request so soon after the now-former captain said that being involved in trade rumors was a frustrating distraction.

“Well, I mean, he bailed on them. He demanded a trade, right? And a month or two ago, he was whining about how everyone was bugging him about wanting out, which was completely disingenuous. But he came up and claimed that it’s frustrating,” said Hayes.

“People keep talking. I’ve done, you know, I’m committed to Ottawa. No, you aren’t. And he wasn’t there. He was out. He was gone. So completely disingenuous. The press conference he had two months ago — there’s no disputing that. He was gone.”

Tkachuk’s trade request from the club that drafted him in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft and later named him their team captain was certainly curious given what he had to say not long after he and the rest of his now-former teammates were eliminated in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the eventual Cup-winning Carolina Hurricanes.

Tkachuk said that any trade rumors didn’t come from him and that they were becoming a distraction from what he described as total commitment to the Senators.

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

Brady Tkachuk Wanted To Move On

According to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, it was obvious that Tkachuk was eying a change of scenery and that he wasn’t going to extend in Ottawa.

“It was pretty clear to Ottawa that Brady Tkachuk wanted a change of scenery, and he did not intend to re-sign with them next summer when he was eligible for an extension,” Kaplan said. “So, they engaged with a small handful of teams, all in American markets. Brady Tkachuk had full control here… He got to dictate in the end where he wanted to go, and it was very clear his preference was Florida.”