Brady Tkachuk has officially been extended in Ottawa. The gritty power forward inked a 7 year, $57.5M deal with the Senators Thursday to keep him in the nation’s capital through 2027-28. The deal carries an AAV of $8.2M per season.
With Ottawa slated to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight in their season opener, Tkachuk represented the lone remaining RFA who was still unsigned. There are apparently no signing bonuses attached to the contract, which some may find odd given reports that the signing bonus amount was allegedly a sticking point in negotiations between the team and Tkachuk’s camp.
In terms of real money, here is how the contract breaks down yearly:
$4.0M in 2021-22
$6.5M in 2022-23
$10.5M in 2023-24
$10.5M in 2024-25
$10.5M in 2025-26
$8.5M in 2026-27
$7.0M in 2027-28
Rumours are currently swirling as to whether Brady will actually suit up tonight after weeks of skating on his own. Having missed the entirety of training camp, it remains to be seen whether the team feels as though he’s in game shape. A more likely scenario is one where Tkachuk will be in the building, but not in uniform for the home opener.
With the final piece of negotiations out of the way, fans are now left wondering whether Tkachuk will be unveiled as team captain. Melnyk made comments over the last year indicating that he has no interest in naming a team captain who would only be around for a short period of time (i.e. a bridge deal). But as the ink dries on a new 7 year contract, does that also mean the equipment managers can begin firing up the sewing machines to add a certain letter to Tkachuk’s game day gear? Time will tell.
While the $8.2M AAV is likely a slight over pay on the Senators part (many thought Andrei Svechnikov’s 8 yr/$62M deal with an AAV of $7.75M was a good comparable), getting Brady signed to a long term deal goes a long way of mending bridges between the organization and the fanbase. For a team that had become accustomed to seeing beloved figures be traded or walk in the later stages of their careers, locking up THE core piece of their rebuild is a huge boost of confidence for this young Sens roster.
Now that the contract is done, it’s time to play.