Ottawa Senators trading Brady Tkachuk to Panthers

Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk, right, and forward Shane Pinto celebrate after an NHL hockey game against the Seattle Kraken Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)

Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk will be joining his brother in Florida.

The club announced Sunday evening that a deal with the Florida Panthers would see Ottawa receive three first-round picks and a second-round pick in exchange for Tkachuk.

The Senators would have the No. 9 and No. 25 selections in this year’s NHL Draft, with a second-round pick in 2027 and another first-round pick in 2029.

“This was not a decision we took lightly, but ultimately we did what we felt was best for the long-term future of our hockey club,” said Senators general manager Steve Staios in a news release.

“We now possess cap space and draft capital and will be actively working to improve our roster.”

• Timeline: Highs and lows of Brady Tkachuk’s tenure with the Ottawa Senators

Tkachuk said as recently as April that he was “fully committed” to the Senators as rumours circulated over his potential departure after the team was eliminated by the Hurricanes in the first-round of the playoffs.

“I feel like I’ve answered this hundreds of times… I feel like I’ve never shown, I’ve never said, none of those things ever came out of my mouth,” Tkachuk said in a news conference at the time.

“Quite honestly, it’s just getting frustrating; it’s becoming a distraction. I have been fully committed to this team, to the city, and it’s just becoming a distraction, frustrating to deal with.”

• Tkachuk says he’s been ‘fully committed’ to Senators, City of Ottawa

Tkachuk signed a seven-year, $57.5 million contract with the Senators in 2021. He played 572 games with the club and played in all 10 of Ottawa’s playoff games over the last two seasons.

His brother Matthew signed with the Florida Panthers in 2022 and recently played with Brady in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, where they helped Team USA secure its first gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980.

The pair host the Wingmen podcast and were recently spotted at the UFC Freedom 250 event held at the White House.

Tkachuk was Ottawa’s captain for the last five seasons, and he was — by far in some cases — their leader in countless categories over his eight years with the Senators.

No player had more goals (213), points (463), power-play goals (62), shots (2,202), hits (1,921), winning goals (28), multigoal games (30) and penalty minutes (821) in his tenure with the club, which acquired him with the No. 4 pick in the 2018 draft.

It also adds another big name to the list of players that Florida has locked up for several seasons going forward, including Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Gustav Forsling, Anton Lundell and others.

With files from The Associated Press

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