Brady Tkachuk says the move to Florida was his call, plain and simple.
With his first game against Ottawa since joining the Panthers coming up, Tkachuk pushed back on owner Michael Andlauer’s suggestion that his father and brother had a hand in steering him out of the Senators organization.
“I saw the quote, and I mean he's entitled to his opinion. But I know for myself, it was 100% my decision.
I'm a big boy. I can make decisions for myself and my family.
I don't need to be influenced by other people to make decisions. So he's entitled to his opinion.”
Andlauer made those remarks to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun in September, saying “blood is thicker than water” and that Keith and Matthew Tkachuk “got in his kitchen.”
Tkachuk was traded by Ottawa on June 21, with the Senators getting the No. 9 and No. 25 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft. He had two seasons left on the seven-year, $57.5 million contract he signed in October 2021.
He also made clear he isn’t interested in laying out the whole backstory behind why he didn’t re-sign with Ottawa.
“There's professional reasons, personal reasons why I wasn't going to re-sign here,” Tkachuk said. “It just happened to work out this way.”
Tkachuk’s run in Ottawa stretched across eight seasons, during which he scored 213 goals and totaled 463 points in 572 games. He wore the captain’s “C” for his final five seasons with the club.
The Panthers are getting him at full speed, too. He has opened his Florida stint with 10 points in nine games and was named the NHL's First Star of the Week last week, according to theScore. Florida is expected to slot him alongside his brother Matthew and center Sam Bennett.
There’s also the matter of how Ottawa fans greet him. Tkachuk said on the “Wingmen” podcast that any jerseys thrown onto the ice would be donated to the Boys and Girls Club in Ottawa.
“I don't recommend doing it,” he added.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said he’s not planning to get in Tkachuk’s way on the emotional side of the night.
“I haven't said anything to him. I want him to experience it without coaching,” Maurice said.
Wednesday’s game arrived with both Florida and Ottawa sitting on 12 points after nine games. The Senators will be without defenseman Thomas Chabot, who is out with an upper-body injury.
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Brady Tkachuks Ottawa Return Just Got Even More Emotional
Brady Tkachuks first game back in Ottawa as a Florida Panther already had the kind of built-in drama that comes with a player returning to face his former team, and the emotional backdrop only grew this week. The former Senators captain is set to skate into an arena that knows him well, and he didnt sidestep the possibility of fans making their feelings known with old jerseys from his Ottawa days.
If that happens, Tkachuk said the jerseys will not just be left on the ice. Theyll be gathered up and donated to the Boys & Girls Club of Ottawa, a detail that adds a different tone to a night that has already prompted extra security planning from the Senators. Inside the room, though, Ottawa players say Tkachuk is not taking up much conversation, even if the matchup itself figures to draw plenty of attention outside it. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers May Have Found A Line They Cannot Break Up
With injuries forcing Florida to improvise, the Panthers have stumbled onto a line that looks far too useful to treat as a temporary fix. Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk have brought a heavy, playoff-tested edge to the middle of the lineup, and the combination has given the team a different kind of threat at 5-on-5. Their experience in big games, both in the NHL and on the international stage, has helped turn a patchwork answer into something that feels more deliberate with each shift.
The real intrigue now is whether Florida can afford to move away from it once the roster gets healthier. This has been the club's most productive line so far, and it has also been one of the most reliable defensively, which is exactly the kind of balance coaches tend to trust in the postseason. Even if the Panthers eventually have more options, this stretch has made it harder to picture breaking up a group that has fit so cleanly into the team's bigger lineup plan. [Read more 🡒]