Brady Tkachuk Says Thank You To Ottawa Fans In Farewell Video
In a video posted on Tkachuk's social media, the Sens' former captain reflected on his tenure and addressed a divided fan base.
Video Transcript
Sens captain Brady Tkachuk has been traded to the Florida Panthers.
It was put out there at first by TSN's Pierre LeBrun.
The Senators have confirmed it now, and the deal is this: Tkachuk goes to, shocker, to be with his brother with the Florida Panthers.
The Sens get the ninth overall pick, which belongs to Florida, the 25th overall pick, which belongs to Tampa Bay.
They get the Florida Panthers' first-round pick in 2029 as well, and in 2030, get Florida's second-round pick.
It is all draft picks all the time, so the Sens will have three first-round picks in this Friday's draft.
Let me begin with this, 'cause we're gonna dive deeply into it.
Let's begin with this, as you, run the old picket fence at them, Greg.
And hello, by the way.
Nice to see you.
Hi.
All right, buddy.
What is your knee-jerk reaction when you heard this deal?
My first thought was, "Well, I guess it really was inevitable after all."
My first thought was, "You know what?
Maybe they kept it private, but, I, I'm It's looking more and more like maybe Brady did ask to get moved or did indicate that he wasn't interested in staying beyond, next season when the contract is up."
That was my first reaction.
What, what about you?
Yeah, it was-- That was probably my first reaction, though it, it, it evolves.
Yeah.
My first reaction was, "Only picks?"
Yeah.
But the more I think about it, it's like, in all likelihood, those picks are setting up another shoe to drop.
I think these picks between- Yeah you know.
If this was after the draft, I'd be like, "What are you doing?"
Yeah.
These are-- This is the kind of a deal that a rebuilding team makes.
Yep.
But the Sens window is open.
Brady Tkachuk on the roster or not, their window to contend is now.
And so the deal didn't make any sense at first.
You know, it's nice.
You know, you-- They do have a bad prospect pool.
It needs beefing up and so I guess if it, if there are no other deals to come, then okay.
You've, you've accomplished that.
You've, you've improved your, your, your depth of prospects.
But that's not, I think, what Sens fans want.
They want a warm body that can help right now.
They want that top six guy.
They want a defenseman.
So I feel like the plan here between now and draft day is to flip at least one, maybe all of these first-round picks- Mm-hmm into, one, maybe two deals to try and address some of these issues.
I don't feel like Stais would've gone after all draft picks if he didn't have something up his sleeve.
