Brady Tkachuk is already bracing for the reaction he’ll get the first time he walks back into Ottawa as a member of the Florida Panthers.
The former Senators captain knows the reception won’t be friendly. After spending years as one of the faces of the franchise, the offseason trade that sent him to Florida turned him from fan favorite into the guy Ottawa supporters will be waiting to boo.
“I think I’m for sure gonna get booed. I don’t know, we’ll see, we’ll see, we’ll see what they’ve got for me, I don’t know.
I mean I would think they would (give a video tribute), not sure, I don’t know what’s going to happen. But yeah I’ve heard some rumblings that it’s early on in the season so yeah that’d be fun to get back,”
Tkachuk, 26, was dealt from Ottawa to Florida on June 28 in a blockbuster that brought the Senators two 2026 first-round picks, one 2029 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick. He still has two years remaining on the seven-year, $57.564,598 extension he signed with Ottawa in 2021.
The schedule for next season has not been released yet, but Tkachuk appears to believe his return to Ottawa could come early in the year. That would fit, since the Senators and Panthers meet three or four times each season as Atlantic Division opponents.
For Senators fans, moving on from Tkachuk won’t be simple. They’ll be seeing him plenty, and they’ll also be dealing with brother Matthew and a Panthers team that figures to be a major problem for a while.
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Tkachuks trade request last June left a sour taste in Ottawa, especially the way the situation played out publicly, and that tension figures to be front and center when he comes back. Senators fans are expected to make their feelings known, turning the matchup into a loud, emotional test for a player who once represented the franchises future. [Read more 🡒]