Brady Tkachuk's Trade Request A Blessing In Disguise For Senators

If there was any doubt that Brady Tkachuk's trade request was a blessing in disguise for the Senators, Wednesday night should have removed it.

The Senators defeated Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers 5-1 at Canadian Tire Centre in one of the most exciting, emotional regular-season games in franchise history.

The former captain was given perhaps the roughest ride any visiting player has ever experienced at the CTC, including Alexei Yashin, who not only demanded a trade but sat out a full season in a contract holdout.

Senators fans serenaded Tkachuk with a relentless (and surprisingly varied) collection of insulting chants throughout the evening.

"Traitor." "Brady sucks." "We don't need you."

And those were just a few of the hit selections from an enormous playlist.

The hostility was unlike anything we've seen at Canadian Tire Centre. And the Senators made sure their former captain had nothing to celebrate.

But beyond the score and the atmosphere, Wednesday's game reinforced something that has become increasingly clear since Tkachuk requested a trade last spring. 

His surprising decision to leave was the best thing for this team.

When Tkachuk asked out with two years remaining on his contract, Senators fans were understandably furious.

Fans felt betrayed, and Wednesday night made it crystal clear that those feelings haven't softened over the last four months.

But consider the alternative for a moment. Parallel-universe time.

What if Tkachuk had held his tongue, stayed another year, and then informed management that he had no intention of re-signing?

The Senators would almost certainly have been forced to trade him by next summer.

It would have been a situation somewhat similar to Alex DeBrincat.

There's certainly no love lost between Senators fans and DeBrincat, who made it clear he wasn't interested in signing a long-term extension with the club.

But DeBrincat never requested a trade, nor did he even hint that he wouldn’t honour his contract. That's a big reason why DeBrincat has never received anything remotely resembling the treatment Tkachuk endured on Wednesday.

Had Tkachuk not asked for a trade when he did, of if Steve Staios had waited to oblige him, the Senators would have found themselves in a much weaker negotiating position.

Instead, Staios was able to move him with two full seasons of contractual control remaining. The result was an excellent return from the Panthers: three first-round picks and a second-rounder. When the trade market is one team, that's unbelievable.

That package gave the Senators the flexibility to bolster their farm system and reshape their roster a little, bringing William Eklund to town.

There's also the question of whether Florida could have put together anything close to that offer if Tkachuk played here this season.

With Florida having already surrendered its first-round picks in the next three drafts, it's difficult to imagine the Panthers putting together anything approaching the same package if Tkachuk had waited another year to request a trade.

And what if neither side wanted to break up? Would the Senators really have been wise to commit something approaching $15 million a season to keep Tkachuk from testing unrestricted free agency?

All of that was apparent before Wednesday night.

What we didn't know until now was just how much distance there might be between Tkachuk and some of his former teammates.

At Wednesday's morning skate, Tim Stützle told reporters that he'd passed on an opportunity to have dinner with Tkachuk the previous evening. The excuse?

“I have a chef at home.”

On its own, that might not seem particularly significant.

But remember, these two players were once extremely close. In their early days together, they were roommates and even made headlines for playing street hockey with neighbourhood kids. They seemed to be the best of friends, two young stars who were going to lead the Senators into a new era of success.

So Stützle's decision to skip dinner was at least interesting.

There were also some heated exchanges on the ice. Ridly Greig and Dylan Cozens were among the Senators players who got into it with their former captain.

That doesn't necessarily mean there's genuine bad blood. Hockey players compete hard against their friends all the time, and nobody was going to give Tkachuk a free pass simply because he used to wear the same jersey.

But perhaps those feelings go back even further than the trade request itself. Even Staios said that something with Tkachuk had changed last season. And to see Tkachuk on Wednesday jawing loudly at the bench he used to lead makes you wonder.

But the most interesting development of the evening may have come after the final buzzer.

With Tkachuk's Panthers thoroughly beaten and their former captain having endured three periods of relentless ridicule, the Senators returned to their dressing room to celebrate.

And what was playing loudly in the room? 

The Killers' tune, Mr. Brightside. Tkachuk's signature song. Over and over again. 

Maybe it was nothing more than a little chirping postgame gamesmanship.

But combined with Stutzle's comment, the optics were fascinating. Playing Tkachuk's song on repeat came off like one of the fans’ chants: “We don’t need you.”

Whatever the feelings inside the dressing room, the Senators certainly looked like a team that had moved on. They were energized, united and completely comfortable moving forward without their former captain. 

We knew Tkachuk wanted out. But it seems like the Senators were happy to hold the door for him.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa