Thomas Chabot says Senators don’t hold ill will toward Brady Tkachuk
The Ottawa Senators have a new outlook on their future with Brady Tkachuk out of the plans after his move to the Florida Panthers, but Thomas Chabot admitted Wednesday that the team has no hard feelings toward their former captain.
“Like I’ve always said, I stand by his decision. That was his own. It’s his career. We respect it. I don’t hold anything against Brady,” Chabot told reporters, seemingly frustrated at the consistent questions about his former teammate. “If we keep answering (questions about Tkachuk), we’ll answer about Brady all season long. And you know what? The only person in a position to answer that question would be Brady. We don’t know what he was thinking. We don’t know what it was.”
While Tkachuk signed a seven-year, $57.56 million contract with an average annual value of $8.22 million with the Senators through the 2027-28 season, he strong-armed the team into making a deal with the Panthers, joining forces with his brother, Matthew Tkachuk, following the USA’S gold medal win at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics.
In return, the Senators received two first-round picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, plus the Panthers’ second-round pick in 2027 and their top-10-protected first-round pick in 2029. After the midsummer trade, the brothers are preparing for their first NHL season together, hoping to push the Panthers back into Stanley Cup contention in 2026-27.
The Senators, meanwhile, are looking to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and are likely to begin the season without a captain.
“We just want to be with the team here; we’ve got what we got here. We got guys that are excited for the season, and that’s what we focus on,” added Chabot. “We don’t really, to be completely fair with you guys, we don’t really talk about it inside with the guys, and it’s not really a subject of conversation. Brady would give you a better answer, but we don’t hold anything against him.”
After falling 3-2 to the Montreal Canadiens to open the NHL preseason, the Senators will look to take further steps in split-squad games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Canadiens before turning their focus to the season opener against the Maple Leafs on Oct. 3.
