Former Senators tough guy Chris Neil isn’t convinced Brady Tkachuk will walk into Florida and immediately look like the same player he was in Ottawa.
Neil, speaking Monday on Coming in Hot, said the Panthers’ depth could push Tkachuk into a different spot than the one he’s always occupied with the Senators.
“It's tough because Brady's such a unique player,” Neil said. “He's physical; he plays in your top six here.
You know, in Florida, I don't even know. They have such a good team there; is he even in the top six?”
“He might be in the top nine there.”
It’s the kind of observation that carries some real weight coming from Neil, who knows a thing or two about life as a physical forward in Ottawa. Like Tkachuk, he built his game on size, edge and a willingness to go through people. The two sit 1-2 on the Senators’ all-time penalty minutes list, with Tkachuk coming up 1,701 minutes shy of Neil’s mark.
Neil’s offensive game was better than he’s often given credit for, too. In the late 90s with the OHL’s North Bay Centennials, he was nearly a point-per-game player in his draft year, then followed that with 72 points in 66 games and 215 penalty minutes the next season.
He also understands what it means to land on a deeper team and have to adjust fast. When Neil arrived in Ottawa, the Senators were on their way to becoming one of the NHL’s best clubs, and the right side was crowded. Daniel Alfredsson, Marian Hossa and Martin Havlat were already ahead of him.
That forced Neil into a different lane. He leaned hard into the grinding, physical side of the game, hit everything in sight and made himself indispensable in a different way.
It paid off. Neil played 1,026 NHL games, all with Ottawa, and became one of only three modern-day Senators to have his number retired by the organization.
Tkachuk had looked like he might follow a similar path in Ottawa. Instead, he wanted out and requested a trade to Florida, where he’ll have to get used to not being the main man.
Neil didn’t sound bothered by that part of it. He pointed to the way the league works now and the reality that players increasingly steer their own futures.
“Well, the way the game is now, a lot of the players are kind of dictating where they want to go,” Neil said.
“So when you draft guys, you’ve got to really do your due diligence and see what kind of personality they are. But with Brady and Brady's situation with his brother, hey, kudos to him if that's where he wants to go.
“But we want guys that want to be here and want to play here.”
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