Senators Have Already Proved They Don’t Need the Tkachuks

The Tkachuk name is making its rounds in Ottawa again. After being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Keith Tkachuk sat down with The Athletic’s Chris Johnston to talk about one of the NHL’s biggest hot-button issues today: American players forcing trades out of Canadian markets. Unsurprisingly, Keith took a moment to comment on his son Brady Tkachuk’s tense return to the Ottawa Senators, saying, “Brady’s moved on; we’ve moved on; it’s time Ottawa moves on.” (from ‘Keith Tkachuk says ‘it’s time Ottawa moves on’ after son Brady’s trade to Florida’, The Athletic, Nov. 7, 2026).

The game in question was on Oct. 21, 2026, which saw Brady Tkachuk return to the team that made him the face of their franchise for the first time since he forced a trade to the Florida Panthers last summer, and fans didn’t hold back on what they thought of him. Chants and boos rained down on the youngest Tkachuk brother all game, and it seems that resonated with Brady’s father enough for him to tell Ottawa fans what he thought.

Yet Keith’s comments are more than just insensitive. His statement implies he doesn’tunderstand what Brady meant to the franchise, and the request broke an unwritten rule in the dressing room. This wasn’t just a business decision. Feelings were hurt from the top down, and the Oct. 21 game proved the Senators are done with the Tkachuks. Instead, it seems it’s the Tkachuks who haven’t moved on yet.

Brady’s Trade Request Wasn’t Just Business

While some may have seen it coming, no one was happy when the Senators revealed that Tkachuk, their current captain, had requested a trade.

“I think it’s disappointing,” said head coach Travis Green. “Anytime a player has to be traded or moved, it doesn’t matter who it is, I think as a coach you do get disappointed. And when it’s a captain and someone you built a relationship with, that would be the first thing that came to mind.”

“Blood is thicker than water, and let’s just say that his father (Keith) and his brother (Matthew Tkachuk) got in his kitchen,” Senators owner Michael Andlauer added. “Ultimately, the decision was made to go and play with his brother. It’s a decision that was out of our control to a certain degree. But you have to want to play for Ottawa. And right to the end, our fans were behind Brady, even after Team USA won gold. I have no doubt in my mind.”

Even Shane Pinto, who said he remains friends with Tkachuk, was taken aback. “I think, obviously, (the trade) took everyone kind of by surprise,” Pinto said on TSN 1200. “He’s been such a big part of this organization. Obviously, the face of it. And he’s obviously one of my good buds, too. So, to see him go, it definitely sucks.”

There are parallels to a few seasons prior when Alex DeBrincat forced the Senators to trade him after refusing to sign an extension. He was a star player, and Ottawa had paid a premium for him, but he wanted to play in his hometown of Detroit, and he saw a chance to do that. It was, at its core, a personal decision and business decision. Yet teammates still took it as a slight against them, with Tim Stutzle saying at the time, “If you don’t want to be there, then good luck on your way.”

Tkachuk meant immeasurably more to the Senators than DeBrincat. He left college early to join Ottawa in 2016, was the youngest captain in franchise history, and set an NHL record for the most goals from a player with at least 290 hits in 2023-24. He was a unicorn, and the team was built around him. They acquired Josh Norris, who was Tkachuk’s friend from their junior days, and went out of their way to find gritty forwards who could complement his style, such as Tyler Boucher at the 2021 NHL Draft.

But, in the end, all of that effort was for naught, as Tkachuk decided he’d rather try to win a championship with his brother in Florida, handcuffing the Senators with his no-movement clause. He turned his back on the coaches and managers who vouched for him and his brothers in the dressing room, and that left some scars. Brady wasn’t just another Senator – he was the Senator. His decision was never just business, and neither he nor his father should expect people to just accept it and move on.

Keith Can’t Tell Senators Fans How to Feel

Of course, Tkachuk’s request was only half the story. He didn’t just ask to join his brother with two years left on his eight-year deal. There were constant rumours that he wanted out, and although he refuted all of them, they were reportedly made worse by Keith’s meddling. According to AJ Jakubec on TSN’s The Drive, “And the reality is, Keith Tkachuk, from the people that I was talking to, was telling everyone and anyone that would listen at the Olympics that he was going to get Brady out of Ottawa.”

Thus, the trade request was a heel turn, transforming Tkachuk from the Senators’ hero into their greatest enemy. He proved that all those years of denying claims were a fabrication, and the lying really got under the skin of fans and teammates. It’s why the chants were especially vicious when Tkachuk took the ice in a new uniform. Then, when Stutzle was asked why he didn’t join Tkachuk for supper before the Oct. 21 game, he said, “I have a chef at home.”

Had that been the end of it, fans would likely have taken that as punishment enough for abandoning their team. After all, the Senators whooped the Panthers 5-1 in their first meeting, and currently sit fourth in the Atlantic Division, while Florida sits fifth. Verbally taunting a player isn’t nearly as fun as cheering for a winner.

But then Keith had to open his mouth, and as The Hockey Writers’ Jacob Billington wrote earlier this week, “Senators fans didn’t appreciate this comment and have rallied around the idea that it isn’t Keith’s place to tell them how to feel, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he is booed in Ottawa for the rest of his career.”

It’s the Tkachuks That Need to Move On

Keith’s claims that the Senators need to move on completely ignore the situation. It’s as though he expected the fans to treat him like everyone else who leaves a team; for example, Lars Ellers, who signed with the Panthers and also returned to Ottawa on Oct. 21, received cheers during his tribute video in the third period. Tkachuk, and more importantly, Keith, didn’t get that. He wants his son to get the nice sendoff they felt they deserved, so he blames Senators fans for not giving it to them.

It was also clear during the game that Tkachuk was loving his new role as a villain. During his tribute video, he skated a lap around to a chorus of boos with a big grin plastered on his face. Then, after scoring the game’s first goal, he skated by Ottawa’s bench and said, “Some things never change, eh boys?”

Tkachuk tried to downplay it, but the reality was that it was a pointed sign of disrespect against his former team. He wanted to twist the knife. Later, brother Matthew stated that the building was loud and “one of the better regular-season games,” but added, “I was there. I had my eyes. That was not sold out.”

The quips. The digs. The jabs. None of that is coming from Ottawa right now. It’s all from the Tkachuks.

The Senators aren’t getting into a battle with the Tkachuks because there isn’t a battle to be had. Back in June, general manager Steve Staios made it clear what his team’s focus was. “You hope players want to play where they have a chance to win, which I believe we do,” he said. “You want players that aren’t worried about anything else other than that.”

Winning is the focus, and the Senators are doing that without Tkachuk, who clearly didn’t want to be in Ottawa, no matter what he said before or says in the future. The Senators don’t need Tkachuk, and once the Tkachuks accept that, they’ll be a lot happier. But until then, they’ll have to get used to hearing boos whenever the Panthers fly up to Canada.