Senators deal captain Brady Tkachuk to Panthers for package of draft picks

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.

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.

Brothers united

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.