Panthers’ Brady Tkachuk ready for ‘weird-but-cool experience’ in Ottawa return

Florida Panthers admin October 20, 2026 0 Comments

Panthers’ Brady Tkachuk ready for ‘weird-but-cool experience’ in Ottawa return

Brady Tkachuk knows the emotions are going to be high on Wednesday. That’s natural. He’s returning to the city where his NHL career blossomed, facing the team he spent eight years playing for (the final five as its captain) … and the one he requested to be traded from this offseason that eventually led to him joining the Florida Panthers and his brother Matthew.

Tkachuk has tried to keep all of that out of sight and out of mind the past couple days.

But as he returns to face the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for the first time since that blockbuster trade in June, Tkachuk knows there will be a sentimental factor when the puck drops at Canadian Tire Centre.

“Once we get there, it’s going to hit a little bit more,” Tkachuk said after practice Monday. “Right now, it still feels like that game you circle on the calendar for a lot of people. Once we land in Ottawa and see some of the guys, that’ll be like ‘All right, it’s here.’ It’s going to be nervous. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a weird-but-cool experience. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

Perhaps just as important, he’s looking forward to building on his recent hot streak. Tkachuk on Monday was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week after he logged 10 points (six goals, four assists) across four games, including logging natural hat tricks in consecutive games against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday and Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. This came after he failed to put up a point through his first five games with the Panthers, who are on a three-game winning streak.

“Honestly, still can’t believe it happened,” Tkachuk said Monday. “I’ve never done that in my life. It was great, but I’m just happier with the outcome for the team. I feel like we’re clicking on a lot of cylinders right now and building on that.”

The next game to build on that is in the building he called home for the entirety of his NHL career before this season. The Senators picked Tkachuk with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. In eight seasons with the Senators, he logged 463 points (213 goals, 250 assists) across 572 games. Ottawa, however, made the playoffs just twice, with first-round exits in 2025 and 2026.

Two months after last season ended with Ottawa getting swept out of the first round — and after Tkachuk said in an end-of-season news conference that he was “fully committed to this team, to the city” — Tkachuk requested a trade, and used the no-movement clause in his deal to pick his destination.

The Panthers sent four draft picks, including three first-round selections, to the Senators to get the deal done.

“Brady has handled this impeccably the entire time, and he will continue to do that,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “It will be a bigger deal for the home team, especially for the player who is returning. Brady has a lot of close relationships with those guys in Ottawa. We’re going to play and support him.

“If you have been in the League long enough, you have elite players leave your team,” Maurice continued. “When it happens, you feel like it’s the only time it has ever happened. But then, you look back and go, ‘This happens all the time,’ so it will get dealt with. Then we’ll play the game.”

Tkachuk doesn’t know how Senators fans will react to his return, whether they will boo or cheer him when he gets on the ice or gets recognized during that first television timeout.

He can’t focus on that until it happens.

Instead, his focus is on how he can make the most of the moment and help the Panthers carry on their win streak.

“Once we get there, I will use that emotion to my advantage because it is going to be emotional both individually and in the building,” Tkachuk said. “I just want to be able to channel that and use it in the right areas. It’s going to be special being back there. I spent eight great years there and have a lot of great memories. The city made me who I am. It’s going to be a special game.”