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Brady Tkachuk is making the Senators seem somewhat competent
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- Brady Tkachuk is making the Senators seem somewhat competent
The reservations were there, to be sure.
In the months, weeks, days and hours leading up to last June's NHL Entry Draft, general manager Pierre Dorion and the rest of the Senators brass had an excruciating choice to make in light of the early-season trade that landed star centre Matt Duchene in Ottawa.
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The key asset heading Colorado's way in that deal is a first-round draft pick which Ottawa could've gave to the Avs last year rather than in 2019, but it would've meant foregoing the chance to select Brady Tkachuk at No. 4 overall.
Senators rookie Brady Tkachuk is making Ottawa's front office look brilliant for selecting him at No. 4 last June. (Getty)
Despite the distinct possibility that Ottawa could land in the dark, cold depths of the NHL's basement in 2018-19 and possibly have to part with a pick even higher than fourth, the Senators organization believed in Tkachuk. He, in return, has rewarded Dorion and Co. with a stupid-good start to his professional career, and the kid was absolutely on one in Ottawa's three-goal, third period comeback against the Flyers on Wednesday.
With the Sens down 3-1 and less than nine minutes remaining in the final frame, the barely-19-year-old netted two huge tallies just 1:54 apart to pull Ottawa even.
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His first was a gift from Philly netminder Anthony Stolarz as he looked to have the puck corralled and under control until he dropped it right at Tkachuk's feet.
The rookie kindly accepted his early Christmas gift, as any goal-scorer would:
His second, which knotted the game at threes, came on a beautiful deflection after Tkachuk recovered his loose twig just in time to tip home his ninth of the season:
In 14 games Tkachuk has already surpassed his goal-scoring total as a freshman with Boston University last season, where it took him a full 40 games to score eight.
It's hard to believe anyone saw this kind of production coming from a rookie who found the back of the net 24 times in 96 games over the past three years with BU and the US National Team Development Program's U17 and U18 squads — but it's now almost undeniable that whatever Ottawa's front office saw in the scrappy and skilled forward is shining through in a big way at the professional level.
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Nothing about his skillset really stands out on its own. He's not particularly fast, his hands are decent but nothing crazy, same with his shot, and he's not known as a top-flight playmaker. Mash all of those traits together, however, and add an astute hockey sense and his ability to find open space in high-danger scoring areas on a consistent basis, and you have a recipe for a long and productive career at this level — plain and simple.
As the numbers go, it's easy to make the case that Tkachuk is a step behind Vancouver Canucks super-schmelt Elias Pettersson in the NHL's Calder Trophy race, but it's a very small step, if that. He's not the visually appealing, high-flying puck wizard that EP is, but he's been getting it done in his own not-so-glamourous way.
Now with 9 goals and 16 points in 14 contests, Tkachuk's 1.15 points per game leads all rookies – including Pettersson who entered Tuesday's action at 1.05. When it comes to putting the puck in the back of the net, Tkachuk has four fewer goals in seven fewer games, putting the Sens forward at a 52-goal pace over 82 games compared to Pettersson's 53-goal clip.
As it stands while I bang away on my keyboard at this very moment, Tkachuk has the edge in primary points per 60, game score per 60, and shot attempt differential in all situations.
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Though it's extremely early and the sample size is small, this hasn't been said much the past 15 months so let's just get this out of the way and give credit where credit is due: Maybe the Senators were very correct in keeping their 2018 pick instead of sending it Colorado's way.
A glimmering light in an otherwise horrendous calendar year for Ottawa.
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