Vladimir Tarasenko now gets a chance to spend some time with another Tkachuk who idolized him as a kid in St. Louis.
When Brady and Matthew Tkachuk were kids they loved to compete for everything. And one of their parents' jobs was making sure things were kept fair, and both boys got a turn.
Growing up in St. Louis, both Tkachuk boys loved the Blues and idolized Vladimir Tarasensko.
A decade later, after Brady got a good long turn playing with the Russian winger, now it's Matthew's turn. And there better not be trouble, or Mama Tkachuk will have to pull the Hyundai over and send Brady to the back seat.
After 57 games in Ottawa with Brady, Tarasenko was traded on Wednesday to Matthew's Florida Panthers, a team that has as good a chance at a Stanley Cup this year as anyone.
This morning, Brady was asked about Tarasenko being traded away.
"It was tough," Tkachuk told the media."I mean, everybody knows the history of Vladdy. I was in St. Louis when I was growing up, so I always watched him play. I loved the way he played growing up. He was my favourite player at the time. I had his jersey, so for me it was kind of cool to be able to play with a guy like that.
"And watching his career from up close being in St. Louis. And then the last little bit, playing together and kind of sharing that was a lot of fun.
"Of course, he's going to a familiar territory for us in Florida. His family's down there. So I think that's what makes it so exciting for us. His family wasn't able to come up as much this year. So for him to kind of be around family and be around familiar surroundings, I wish him all the best. He's a great guy, great teammate. And I wish him all the best."
Matthew won't get to play right away with the shiny new toy in Sunrise, at least not 5 on 5. Tarasenko was expected to play the left side in his Florida debut Thursday night on a line with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart.