Florida Panthers
Oct 21, 2026 6:09 PM
Updated Oct 21, 2026 6:21 PM
The former Senators captain reflects on his emotional return to Ottawa and sets the stage for a high-stakes divisional showdown against his old teammates.
Hockey fans in Canada’s capital city, in addition to many others across two countries, have had Wednesday’s date circled on their calendar for a while.
That’s because it’s the day when Brady Tkachuk, who was traded from the Ottawa Senators to the Florida Panthers over the summer, is playing in his first game back in Ottawa.
Tkachuk was drafted by Ottawa fourth overall in 2018 and played his entire career with the Senators.
He quickly became the face of the franchise and was named team captain in 2021.
Now, Tkachuk has joined his brother Matthew in Florida and the two are hoping to replicate the success they’ve found playing together on Team USA after winning gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Following Florida’s morning skate on Wednesday at Canadian Tire Centre, Brady took questions from the media in Ottawa for the first time since he was traded back in June.
The full video of his press conference can be seen below, as well as some of his comments to the media.
On seeing former teammates: “It was it was great to see some of the guys, catch up a little bit. I’ve talk to a lot of them to begin with, but yeah, it was great. Of course, seeing it from a different lens, it's pretty different, but it's been great seeing the guys. I saw a lot of the staff this morning too as well, happy to see them and looking forward to seeing them after the game.”
On how much he’s thought about returning to Ottawa: “To be honest, I try not think about it because there's important games before then. I mean, of course, it's always in the back of my mind, but for me, when I landed here, it kind of hit that now we're back here, and now the excitement, all the emotions, kind of came flowing in, and being able to be back here, you know, like I've said a lot, it's a special place to me, and be able to be here, see some of my best friends and staff as well, and it's been great so far. I'm just really looking forward to tonight.”
On leaving Ottawa for Florida: “I've talked about it a lot, that there's professional reasons, personal reasons for why wasn't going to re-sign here, and a lot of those things have remained private between (Ottawa GM) Steve (Staios) and I, and it's going to remain private. It just happened to work out this way. We roomed together at the Olympics, and just that was special, just being with him every day, and when it came down to the end and worked out that I went to Florida, then I was really excited about it. All that decision stuff is in the past now, it's about the next chapter, moving forward, but most importantly, it's about this really big divisional game we have tonight.”
On Michael Andlauer’s comments about the trade: “Yeah, I saw the quote, and I mean he's entitled to his opinion. But I know for myself, it was 100% my decision. I'm a big boy, I can make decisions for myself and my family. I don't need to be influenced by other people to make decisions, so he's entitled to his opinion.”
On his legacy as Senators captain: “I know for myself, its blood, sweat, and tears. I gave absolutely everything I had, and try to do that every single night, whether it's for myself, you know, scoring a big goal or just bringing the emotion and physicality, and I know after each game, I can always look in the mirror knowing I gave it all. So hopefully, that's my legacy of a guy that brought it 100% all the time.”
On Ottawa fans’ possibly booing him: “Like I said, everybody is entitled to know their opinions, whatever their emotions may be, that they're entitled to it. I know for me, it's not going to be taken personally. I know how I feel about this city, about this fan base, and how thankful and appreciative that I am, and that's, no matter what the reaction is going to be, it's not going to change how I feel about this city and this fan base.”
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