The American "bash brothers" reunite in South Florida as the blockbuster trade sends a superstar captain to a loaded roster, sparking a new era of Stanley Cup aspirations.
The Tkachuk era in South Florida is going to kick into high gear this week.
On Sunday, the Florida Panthers made headlines by trading for 26-year-old Brady Tkachuk, sending a trio of first-round picks and a second-round pick to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for their now former captain.
Brady will join his 28-year-old sibling Matthew on the Panthers roster, reuniting the American bash brothers that have become the faces of Team USA hockey in recent years.
The move also gives Florida arguably the deepest and most talent-filled forward group in the NHL and places the Panthers back among the league’s top teams and Stanley Cup contenders.
On Tuesday, Tkachuk and Panthers General Manager Bill Zito will address the media and answer questions about the trade.
Tkachuk will surely be grilled on the circumstances that led up to the trade, what in the past may have contributed to the move and how he sees himself fitting in with his new team moving forward.
One interesting nugget that dropped on Monday regarding Tkachuk has to do with his jersey number.
The Panthers’ official team shop posted a video on social media of them making a new Tkachuk jersey with the number 8 on the back.
Florida’s official website, and the Panthers roster on the NHL Media site, also list Tkachuk as No. 8.
This is probably due to his usual No. 7 already being taken by Panthers veteran defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.
Tkachuk wore No. 7 during his entire seven years in Ottawa, and before that he wore No. 27 at Boston University, No. 7 with the U.S. U18 and U17 teams he’d played for, and No. 71 for the St. Louis AAA Blues 16U squad.
That being the case, this would seemingly be the first time he’ll wear a jersey that didn’t include No. 7, which was the number his father Keith Tkachuk wore 1,183 of his 1,201 NHL games.
It’s also worth noting that papa Tkachuk was named a 2026 inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame, capping off quite a week for the family of hockey stars.
And if you’re wondering what number Keith used for the 18 games he didn’t wear No. 7…you guessed it, it was the No. 8, which he wore during a very brief tenure with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2007.
Perhaps Brady will divulge more into his number-selecting thought processes during his introductory press conference.
Stay tuned.
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Photo caption: Feb 28, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk (7) warms up before playing the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. (Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images)
