This summer was always expected to be a busy one for NHL general managers, but few would have predicted a trade as big as the one the Florida Panthers pulled off for Brady Tkachuk .
After the Senators were swept in the first round by the Carolina Hurricanes , questions were raised over Tkachuk's future with the franchise, questions he swiftly batted away. Cut to a month later, and the former Ottawa Senators captain is now on the same team as his brother, Matthew, as Florida looks to regroup after a season that went nowhere.
Insiders have detailed reports on why the Senators traded Tkachuk, but one person believes President Donald Trump may have (albeit inadvertently) played a part in setting the whole thing in motion.
There were rumblings that locker room pressure played a minor role in the Senators stopping short of putting up much of a fight when Tkachuk reportedly informed the franchise he wouldn't be signing an extension next summer.
However, according to NHL insider Jimmy Murphy, a call from President Donald Trump four months earlier may have been one of the first dominoes.
After Team USA won the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics, FBI director Kash Patel made his way to the locker room to celebrate with the players. At the time, Patel called up President Trump, who had a word with the Tkachuk brothers and the rest of the team.
What followed was a trip to the White House, where Matthew Tkachuk gave President Trump his gold medal to wear.
The Tkachuk brothers were also invited to the UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House lawns last weekend.
There's another popular school of thought that points to a conversation inside Team USA's group chat at the Winter Olympics. Insiders believe conversations in Milano-Cortina may have led to a series of stars placing trade requests, starting with Dylan Larkin .
We could very well see a few more names, including Connor Hellebuyck and Zach Werenski , ask out this summer.
As things stand, however, this is just a theory. What we know for certain is that the Florida Panthers are all-in on 2026/27 and are looking to waste no time proving to the rest of the NHL that 2025/26 was a down year that boiled down to injuries affecting their Cup-winning core.
