06/21/26 07:18:00
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06/21 19:17 CDT Oh, brother! Brady Tkachuk gets traded to Florida to join
Matthew Tkachuk
Oh, brother! Brady Tkachuk gets traded to Florida to join Matthew Tkachuk
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer
Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk are about to team up in Florida, after the
Panthers pulled off another summertime blockbuster.
The Panthers and Ottawa finalized a deal Sunday night, with Florida sending
four draft picks to the Senators for Brady Tkachuk --- the brother of Panthers
star Matthew Tkachuk.
The picks were the No. 9 pick in this year's draft, Tampa Bay's first-round
pick this year (acquired earlier Sunday in a trade Florida made sending Mackie
Samoskevich to Seattle), the Panthers' second-round pick in 2027 and their top
10-protected first-round pick in 2029. And that means Florida adds an elite
player to its forward corps without losing any of its top seven scorers from
this past season.
"Brady is a dynamic competitor and one of the most physical and relentless
forwards in the league," Panthers hockey operations president and 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."
Brady Tkachuk has spent the entirety of his eight-year NHL career in Ottawa,
and now he joins his brother, Olympic teammate and podcast co-host in Florida
--- the place where Matthew Tkachuk has spent the last four seasons, winning
two Stanley Cups and getting to the final three times.
The Athletic was first to report the pending trade.
Brady Tkachuk has two seasons left on the seven-year, $57.56 million contract
he signed in October 2021 when he also became Ottawa's captain. As recently as
late April, he bristled at conversation about his name being in trade rumors
following a first-round playoff exit.
"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 Sunday. "We now possess cap space and draft capital and will
be actively working to improve our roster."
It's a move that makes sense for so many reasons and has seemed almost
inevitable.
Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk reveled in the chance to play alongside one
another for USA Hockey at the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025 (winning silver) and
the Milan Cortina Olympics this year (winning gold, the first for the American
men's program on the Olympic stage since the miracle in Lake Placid 46 years
ago).
Their parents --- their dad is NHL legend Keith Tkachuk --- have a home in
Florida and are regular attendees at Panthers games, and the USA Hockey ties
means Brady Tkachuk already has relationships with many in the Florida
organization. Zito had a role within USA Hockey during this past Olympic cycle
and Panthers equipment manager Teddy Richards had a role with the 4 Nations and
Milan Cortina teams as well.
Brady Tkachuk was Ottawa's captain for the last five seasons, and he was --- by
far in some cases --- their leader in countless categories over his eight years
with the Senators. No player had more 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.
And now, four years after landing Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers have tapped
into the Tkachuk family well of talent again.
It also adds another big name to the list of players that Florida has locked up
for several seasons going forward, including Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad,
Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Gustav Forsling, Anton Lundell and
others. They're all Stanley Cup winners, and now Brady Tkachuk would figure to
have a real chance to get his name etched onto hockey's chalice in the coming
years as well.
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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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