The Ottawa Senators are trading captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in a blockbuster deal which will see him reunited with his brother Matthew.
While the deal is not yet official, the framework would see Ottawa receive the 9th and 25th overall pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, along with a 1st rounder in 2029 and a 2nd round pick in 2030. Originally drafted 4th overall by Ottawa in 2018, Tkachuk amassed 213 goals, and 463 points across 572 games in the nation’s capital.
The soon to be 27 year old is set to enter the 6th year of a 7 year, $57.5M contract which will have him under team control through the 2027-28 season. Tkachuk had reportedly listed Florida, Vegas, Carolina, and Minnesota as destinations in which he was willing to waive his no movement clause to join.
The deal frees up $8.21M in cap space for Ottawa, and now gives them three first round picks in the 2026 Draft. The last time the Senators had 3 first round picks was the infamous 2020 draft where they selected roster mainstays Tim Stutzle (3), Jake Sanderson (5), and Ridly Greig (28).
For Brady, he now gets his wish, joining his brother in the Sunshine State. While the Senators captain had been adamant in the media that he wanted to stay in Ottawa, the persistent rumours linking him to American teams never seemed to go away. Ottawa will receive quite a bit of value back in return, though what this does for their current window to compete remains to be seen.
The 2026 NHL Entry Draft will take place on Friday June 26th and Saturday June 27th at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY.
Photo: Jenn G. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.