Brady Tkachuk joining brother following trade to Panthers by Senators

Brady Tkachuk is joining forces with his brother, Matthew, in South Florida.

Brady was traded to the Florida Panthers by the Ottawa Senators on Sunday. The Senators received the No. 9 and No. 25 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, another first-round pick (conditional) in the 2029 NHL Draft, and a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. The No. 25 pick was acquired by the Panthers earlier in the day as part of the deal with the Seattle Kraken for forward Mackie Samoskevich.

Brady had 59 points (22 goals, 37 assists) in 60 regular-season games with the Senators this season. He did not have a point in four Stanley Cup Playoff games, when Ottawa was swept by the Cup-champion Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference First Round.

“Brady is a dynamic competitor and one of the most physical and relentless forwards in the League,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “A proven leader and exactly the type of player we want in our locker room, he strives to make everyone around him better both on and off the ice. We’re thrilled to welcome Brady to South Florida to join our group as we continue our pursuit of championship hockey.”

The 26-year-old forward, who spent the past five seasons as Ottawa's captain, has two seasons remaining on a seven-year, $57.5 million contract ($8.214 million average annual value) he signed on Oct. 14, 2021.

Selected by the Senators with the No. 4 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, Brady has 463 points (213 goals, 250 assists) in 572 regular-season games, and seven points (four goals, three assists) in 10 playoff games.

“This was not a decision we took lightly, but ultimately we did what we felt was best for the long-term future of our hockey club,” Ottawa general manager Steve Staios said. “We now possess cap space and draft capital and will be actively working to improve our roster.”

The trade on Sunday comes less than two months after Brady said he was "fully committed" to the Senators.

“I feel like I’ve answered this hundreds of times,” Brady said on April 29, four days after Ottawa was eliminated by Carolina. “I feel like I’ve never shown, never said, none of those things have ever come out of my mouth, and quite honestly it’s just getting frustrating. It’s becoming a distraction.

“I have been fully committed to this team, to this city and (the talk), it’s just become a distraction. Frustrating to deal with.”

Staios also labeled the talk of Brady playing elsewhere next season as “nonsense” at the time.

“I don’t read it. I don’t bother with it,” Staios said. “We know what we have internally. We have great communication with our players, so we really don’t focus on it. I mean, this comes up very often. There's nothing that we have talked about or thought about where that conversation should happen.”

Despite that, Brady will now team up with his brother for the first time in the NHL next season.

Matthew has played the past four seasons with the Panthers since being acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Calgary Flames on July 22, 2022. In that deal, Florida sent Calgary forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Cole Schwindt, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar and a conditional first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Also as part of that trade, Matthew signed an eight-year contract that runs through the 2029-30 season.

During Matthew's first three seasons with the Panthers, they advanced each time to the Stanley Cup Final, including winning back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025. Florida (40-38-4) did not qualify for the playoffs this season after finishing seventh in the Atlantic Division.

Selected by the Flames with the No. 6 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Matthew has 670 points (253 goals, 417 assists) in 673 regular-season games with Calgary and Florida, and 84 points (32 goals, 52 assists) in 94 playoff games. Since being traded to the Panthers, the 28-year-old has 288 points (101 goals, 187 assists) in 242 regular-season games, and 69 points (25 goals, 44 assists) in 67 playoff games.

Although next season will be the first time the Tkachuk brothers will play together in the NHL, it won't be the first time they've been on the same team.

Brady and Matthew played for Team USA at the 4-Nations Face-Off in February 2025, as well as at the Milan Olympics this past February, when they helped the Americans win the gold medal for the first time since 1980. Brady had five points (three goals, two assists) in six Olympic games, while Matthew had six assists in the six games.