Brady Tkachuk is no longer in Ottawa, but the fallout from that June deal is still hanging over the Senators as training camp approaches.
With medicals set for next Wednesday at the Canadian Tire Centre, the topic was impossible to avoid Tuesday at the club’s annual charity golf tournament at Rideau View Golf Club. The Senators have moved on in roster terms, but not in conversation terms, and the first few weeks of the season will make that even clearer.
The former captain was sent to the Florida Panthers in exchange for four draft picks, and several players made it plain they were unhappy to lose him. Alternate captain Thomas Chabot didn’t hide his feelings.
“You want guys to be here. You want guys to want to be part of this team and part of this city,” Chabot said. “So, when you see something like that, I’d be lying if I said I was happy when he decided to leave.
“We felt like we’re on the verge of starting to make the playoffs and building something.”
Winger Drake Batherson described what Tkachuk brought to the room and the lineup, and made clear the Senators will have to replace that edge together.
“He was a unique player,” Batherson said. “Not a lot of guys in the league did what he did and brought what he brought. He stuck up for a lot of guys, and he was great for this franchise.
“Collectively as a team, we’re going to have to find ways to bring that aspect with him gone. We’re going to have to figure it out pretty quick.”
The storyline won’t disappear soon. Ottawa opens the season Oct. 3 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena, and then Tkachuk comes back to Ottawa on Oct. 21 with the Panthers. Those are the dates everyone will circle when the Senators are finally judged without their former captain in the picture.
For now, the biggest unanswered question is who gets the ‘C’.
President of hockey operations and general manager Steve Staios and coach Travis Green have already talked internally about the vacancy, and the expectation was that the Senators would name their 10th captain in franchise history before camp opens. Around the league, Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot and Tim Stutzle are viewed as the leading candidates. Claude Giroux has also been mentioned as a possible short-term option, though that would send a different message to the younger core.
Staios wasn’t eager to put a timetable on it.
“I don’t think that’s anything that we want to rush into. It’s an important decision,” Staios said.
“Yet, when I look at our group and the potential players that could be our next captain here for the Ottawa Senators, it just comes naturally to all these players that we’re talking about.”
Chabot, the team’s longest-serving player, has a strong case after being passed over for the job five years ago. If the decision goes another way, he’ll still back whoever gets it. That part, at least, fits the way he’s always handled himself.
As for the team itself, the Senators don’t believe Tkachuk’s exit leaves them doomed. They’re not better without him, but they also don’t think the ceiling suddenly collapsed.
Staios acted quickly after the trade, bringing in William Eklund from the San Jose Sharks. Eklund has the skill to play on the left side of Tim Stutzle. Ottawa also still has a core that includes Dylan Cozens, Ridly Greig, Shane Pinto, Stutzle, Chabot and Sanderson.
If Linus Ullmark and Samuel Ersson give them solid goaltending, the Senators believe they can still push for a playoff spot.
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