There have been multiple rumors surrounding the future of Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk with the franchise that selected him with the fourth overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft.
Tkachuk has played his entire NHL career with the club, but in recent weeks, especially following Ottawa’s first-round sweep in the Stanley Cup Playoffs at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, speculation has run rampant on the chances of Tkachuk being dealt out of the Canadian capital city.
However, Tkachuk, who wasn’t able to participate in his club’s season-ending media availability session earlier in the week thanks to the birth of his second child, has made his thoughts on the subject clear.
Brady Tkachuk Affirmed His Commitment To Playing For The Ottawa Senators
Tkachuk, who held a media availability session on Wednesday, said that the rumors of a potential departure from Ottawa are a distraction and that he’s committed to playing for the Senators.
“Brady, there has been a lot of discourse regarding your future since the series ended. Is that a discussion you plan to have with (Senators general manager) Steve Staios this summer?” a reporter asked.
“Well, I mean, of course I wasn’t here for, you know, everybody’s meetings the other day,” Tkachuk answered. “So I haven’t had the chance to talk to Steve, but I mean, I feel like I’ve answered this hundreds of times. None of that, I feel like I’ve ever shown. I’ve never said….none of those things have ever come out of my mouth. Quite honestly, it’s becoming frustrating. It’s becoming a distraction. I have been fully committed to this team and the city, and it’s just become a distraction, and it’s frustrating to deal with.”
Tkachuk went scoreless in the four games during the postseason and also had a negative plus-minus rating.
“I don’t think anybody is more frustrated with how everything went than me,” Tkachuk said of his playoff scoring woes. “At the end of the day, I didn’t play good enough. I tried everything I could to get my game going, but nothing was going in. Nothing was going my way.”
This season, he was limited to 60 games, but scored 22 goals and added 37 assists.
He closed with a message to Senators fans:
“I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support that you guys had for our team, myself, my family, all year. I really wish we could be playing for you guys still,” he said. “You guys brought so much energy, so much joy to our team that it makes it sting [more].”
Brady Tkachuk Has Played His Entire NHL Career With The Senators
Brady Tkachuk, who is the brother of two-time Stanley Cup winning Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk and the son of former NHL forward Keith Tkachuk, was taken by the Senators in the opening round (fourth overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.
In November of 2021, he was named the 10th captain in team history, and he’s also managed to lead them to consecutive postseason appearances. Last season in Ottawa’s six-game opening round series loss to the provincial rival Toronto Maple Leafs, Tkachuk was a force for his club, scoring four goals while adding three assists.
Brady Tkachuk Has Blunt Answer On Future With Senators