‘Daddy’s back’: Senators’ Brady Tkachuk to return from thumb injury Friday vs. Blues
The Ottawa Senators already have a fair bit of momentum as one of the stronger teams in a topsy-turvy Eastern Conference so far this season, and they’re about to get better. On Wingmen with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, the podcast the two NHL star brothers launched earlier this month, Brady announced he plans to rejoin to Ottawa’s lineup after a 20-game injury layoff for Friday’s matinee road tilt vs. the St. Louis Blues.
“Everything looks good for Friday,” Tkachuk told brother Matthew on Wednesday’s episode. “Daddy’s back.”
“DADDY’S BACK” 🤣
Brady returns Friday in St. Louis while Matthew is trending closer to his season debut 🙌 pic.twitter.com/yHmFebnR5d
— Wingmen with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk (@Wingmenpod) November 26, 2025
It’s a fitting site for Tkachuk’s return given he grew up in St. Louis while his father, 500-goal scorer Keith Tkachuk, played for the Blues.
Brady, the Senators’ captain, played just three games this season before sustaining a torn thumb ligament that required surgery. It happened during an Oct. 13 home loss to the Nashville Predators when he took a hit from Roman Josi and fell awkwardly into the boards.
Tkachuk, 26, missed 10 games last season but still led the Senators with 29 goals and was fourth on the team with 55 points, and he levelled up when the stakes got higher with four goals and seven points across six games in Ottawa’s first-round playoff loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’ll immediately slot back into a prominent scoring-line role as arguably the premier true power forward in the game. Over the previous four seasons, Tkachuk was the only NHL player to crack the top 30 in goals and hits, and he regularly ranks among the best 5-on-5 shot and scoring-chance generators in the league.
The Sens, however, hung in just fine without their leader; they’ve gone 10-5-4 in his absence, which will reach 20 games Wednesday when Ottawa visits the Vegas Golden Knights. They sit third in the Atlantic Division at 11-7-4 on the year, and they’ve been a lockdown defensive club; no Eastern Conference team allows fewer shots on goal per game.
Tkachuk’s return is also exciting for USA’s 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic men’s hockey team, on which Tkachuk will play a vital role just as he did at the 4 Nations Face-Off last winter.