It was sombre locker clean out day for the Ottawa Senators, as the 2025-26 season officially came to an end. The Senators were swept out of the first round of the NHL playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday. Now, attention turns to the offseason on how the team can get better and the future of team captain Brady Tkachuk. On Monday, Sens players held their season exit interviews with team management. Not in attendance was Tkachuk, who had reportedly travelled to New Jersey for the birth of his second child. Senators general manager Steve Staios was asked Monday about online speculation that Brady Tkachuk could play his hockey elsewhere come the start of next season. “It’s nonsense,” Staios said to the gathered media at the Canadian Tire Centre. “I mean, this comes up very often. I don’t think that. There’s nothing that we have talked about or thought about where that conversation should happen.” Staios said he texted with Tkachuk following the Game 4 loss Saturday in lieu of the typical exit interviews, saying that team captain was still upset with the loss. In four games against Carolina, Tkachuk registered zero points. There was also online commentary that Tkachuk did not have the same spark or passion to his play this season. Sens head coach Travis Green added that there are 31 other teams in the NHL that would love to have a player like Tkachuk on their team, with the 26-year-old averaging nearly a point per game in an injury hampered season this year. “It’s heartbreaking,” said Tkachuk following Saturday’s season ending defeat. “You want to just win the Stanley Cup and everyone believed that in here and for it to be this tight of a series and not go our way every game, it’s really tough.” Green commented on the season that was, reflecting on challenges such as a long injury list, managing a leave of absence for goaltender Linus Ullmark, and an Olympic controversy that surrounded American gold medalists Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson. “It’s the NHL. Every year’s got its challenges that come with it. You know, I expected or hoped. I expected our team to play better this year than we did last year.”
