Brady Tkachuk says chasing Cup with brother, rest of Panthers 'going to be awesome'

LAS VEGAS -- The Tkachuk brothers are already side by side every day, enjoying everything that comes with playing together in South Florida.

Brady and Matthew have been sharing a golf cart to ride to the Florida Panthers’ state-of-the-art practice facility in Fort Lauderdale. When the University of Miami hosts Florida A&M in football Thursday, they will sound the Hurricane Siren to fire up the fans at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

“Yeah, I’m really excited,” Brady said at the NHL/NHLPA North American Player Media Tour on Tuesday. “It’s going to be awesome.”

Wait till hockey season.

Training camp opens Sept. 17. The Panthers open the season at the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes on Sept. 29 (5 p.m. ET; ESPN). 

Brady is joining Matthew. He’s also joining a deep, skilled, physical team trying to win the Cup for the third time in four seasons.

“I’m more excited about the on-ice aspects, not just with him but with the group,” Brady said. “I’m really excited about that. It’s a great group to be a part of. The main focus is always going to be on hockey.”

After eight seasons with the Ottawa Senators, the last five as captain, Brady left for the Panthers via trade June 21. He knows the date when he will visit Ottawa to face his former team for the first time.

“Oct. 21,” he said.

The 26-year-old spent his formative years in Ottawa, becoming a husband, a father, a man. He had 463 points (213 goals, 250 assists) in 572 games for the Senators, 54 points more than anyone else during his tenure, and helped them make the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past two seasons. They lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games in the Eastern Conference First Round in 2025 and got swept by the Hurricanes in the first round last season.

He knows the fans will have strong feelings.

“It’s a special place,” he said. “I loved being in that city, playing in front of that passionate fan base. I met a lot of amazing people along the way that I can call family. Whether it’s positive, negative, I know how appreciative I am, and I know that I can look myself in the mirror and know that I gave absolutely everything I had for the team and for the city.”

Florida presents a special opportunity, though.

Brady played with Matthew for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025 and for Team USA at the 2026 Milan Olympics, helping the Americans win Olympic gold in men’s hockey for the first time since 1980. Now they will play together on the same NHL team, something Brady said they would have considered “insane” when they were growing up.

“It’s just a dream come true,” Brady said.

The Panthers went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023 and won the Cup in 2024 and 2025. How many times did Brady watch his brother from the stands?

“Probably six, I’d say,” he said. “Yeah, well, I’ll call it 6 ½.”

The half game came April 6, 2023, when Ottawa visited Florida. Brady fought Panthers defenseman Marc Staal at 8:24 of the second period, the same time Matthew fought Senators forward Drake Batherson, and Brady received a game misconduct. Brady hit the showers and watched the rest of a 7-2 Florida win with his family out of sight of the TV cameras.

“I hid in the suite,” he said.

After thinking about it, Brady said he probably watched Matthew from the stands even more often than that. It was probably eight games, actually. But the exact number doesn’t matter. The point is, Brady knows what he’s getting into.

Brady said he bought a place two minutes from Matthew in an area with a bunch of teammates. It’s golf-cart distance from the practice facility. Brady hasn’t gotten his own golf cart yet, so Matthew has given him a ride to the rink five times since Brady arrived to start skating about three weeks ago.

The guys can carpool to and from the airport. Their kids can grow up together.

“A lot of guys with young kids, so there will be a lot of play dates, a lot of fun down there,” Brady said, “so I’m excited about that.”

Brady fits Florida’s identity, and he said it doesn’t matter if he plays on a line with his brother. The Panthers are hungry after missing the playoffs last season mainly due to injury and fatigue. 

“You can just feel the energy and excitement,” Brady said. “Last year didn’t go the way that they wanted, what they expected, and just the motivation … They’re not even talking about the two Cups. They’re talking about last year and how they want to get back to where they wanted to be.”

Bottom line: The Panthers have a chance to win the Cup. That means Brady does too.

“You can see it, the commitment to get back there,” Brady said. “I know everybody’s champing at the bit to get the season going, and we just can’t wait for the next week and a half.”