Brady Tkachuk Doesn’t Expect a Warm Welcome Back to Ottawa

Brady Tkachuk was a fan favorite, the heart and soul, and eventually the captain of the Ottawa Senators, but after this offseason’s trade to the rival Florida Panthers, he’s become the enemy.

---

Years of rumors suggesting the American superstar would bolt to play in his home country finally came to fruition, and he surely lost a lot of fans in the nation’s capital along the way.

As a result, the hockey world will have Tkachuk’s first trip back to Ottawa circled on its calendar when the schedule is released, and he knows to expect that boos will be raining down upon his return.

Tkachuk said:

“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,”

The 26-year-old Tkachuk was, of course, traded from the Senators to the Panthers for two 2026 first-round picks, one 2029 first-round pick, and a 2027 second-round pick on June 28. He has two years left on the seven-year, $57.564,598 contract extension he signed with Ottawa back in 2021.

Next season’s schedule has yet to come out, though Tkachuk seems to have an inkling that he and Florida could be in Ottawa early in the new campaign. That would make sense given the Atlantic Division rivals face each other three or four times a year.

As much as Senators fans may want to forget about Tkachuk and move on, it won’t be easy given they’ll have to see — and try to get through — him, brother Matthew, and the juggernaut Panthers for the foreseeable future.

Next: The Carlsson Offer Sheet Failed: Insider on What the Flyers Actually Do Next