Ottawa Senators
Senators’ Situation with Tkachuk Not Unlike Matthews and Maple Leafs
There are some similarities between Brady Tkachuk and Auston Matthews that explain whey trade rumors don’t seem to go away.
With speculation continuing to swirl around Auston Matthews and his long-term future in Toronto, a similar conversation is beginning to take shape in Ottawa surrounding Senators captain Brady Tkachuk. There is and will be talk about Tkachuk leaving the Sens, likely as long as his contract lasts. However, there might be one good way to keep the captain around.
Winning, which is something the Senators have started to do a lot of lately.
The crew at Sportsnet 590 The FAN got into a discussion about Tkachuk’s future with Alex Adams and said the situations between Tkachuk and Matthews were not that dissimilar.
Justin Bourne noted, “Similar to the one we have here with Matthews, it’s like, alright—couple years left, USA just won, and they took some flak from us Canadians.” He then asked, “What do you anticipate happening with the captain there? Is it tough to get a read on his long-term future?”
Adams responded:
“I think it’s tough to get a read on it. Winning cures all, right? If the Senators go on a deep run this year, and if next year they’re close to that contender-type, elite team, does Brady Tkachuk want to leave that? And what’s necessarily the better place he’d be going to?”
What if the Senators Don’t Win?
Adams did add, if the team isn’t winning, “I don’t like the Senators’ chances of retaining Brady Tkachuk.” The reason is that there seems to be a lot of outside forces pulling Brady onto a different path.
“You see Matthew in Florida—they even have a podcast now—I think he’s probably in his ear. Fair enough, too—he’s said some stuff about Canada as well. I think, with everything going on outside of the hockey world, that probably hasn’t helped.”
Like with Matthews, whenever something negative happens in Toronto, when things aren’t going well in Ottawa, Brady’s name gets tossed out there. “I’m sure every time there are rumors—and with Team USA after the Olympics, as we move forward—it’s going to be the talk of the town until he signs an extension or until something else happens.”
The best way to shut out the noise and make sure that he stays put is to win. “But I think for the Senators, if you keep winning, that’s the best pitch to Brady Tkachuk. And right now, I think they’re in a really good position to win this year, next year, and into the final year of his contract.”
Next: Yakemchuk’s Debut Raises a Big Question for Ottawa
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