Tkachuk Frustrated By "The Noise,” But Holds The Power To Silence It

Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk met with the local media on Wednesday to discuss his team and season.

He was previously unavailable on Monday for his locker cleanout because he was in New Jersey, supporting his wife and family, after Emma delivered a baby girl named Lyla 14 hours after the Senators lost game four and their first-round series to the Carolina Hurricanes.

That first-round series was not only disappointing to the organization but to the fan base, as well. Not only was the season over, but other fan bases and the outside media got what they wanted, of course.

With Ottawa’s early departure, they could churn out Brady Tkachuk's inevitable departure tweets and trade proposal stories faster than Kris Knoblauch can desperately juggle ineffective starting goaltenders.

“I wasn't here for everybody's meetings and the other day, so I haven't had the chance to talk to Steve (Staios),” Tkachuk stated. “I feel like I've answered this hundreds of times. I've never said (I want out of Ottawa). None of those things ever came out of my mouth, and quite honestly, it's just getting frustrating.

“It's becoming a distraction. And I've been fully committed to this team, to the city, and it's just becoming a distraction and frustrating to (dispel the rumours).”

Unfortunately, it feels like we are caught in a vicious cycle that will keep repeating until Tkachuk actually signs a contract.

“The extension talk, it's a year away,” Tkachuk stated. “That's something that you physically can't even do anytime soon. So, for me, I just have to talk to Steve. When we have that conversation of where he views our team, what he thinks we need to improve on and what I need to improve on, not just as a player, but as a captain. Obviously, I'm excited to hear Steve's thoughts and where he thinks we can improve.”

Until that time, it is hard to imagine that the rumours and speculation will go away, even if Tkachuk does not know why they keep occurring.

“I don't really (know), honestly,” the left winger professed. “I don't get why. It's a consistent thing that's happened so many times personally, and it's frustrating. It's frustrating to have to answer for something that has never been spoken out of my mouth or has been spoken from the team's mouth. I just feel like I have to consistently answer to it, and it's just frustrating.”

The rumours and speculation are not a problem that is exclusive to the Senators.

The Edmonton Oilers have experienced this following successive playoff losses, which have raised questions regarding Connor McDavid’s future. The Vancouver Canucks traded defenceman Quinn Hughes earlier this season when it became apparent that he would not sign an extension.

Other Canadian franchises are experiencing similar situations, such as in Winnipeg following Connor Hellebuyck’s end-of-year media availability and Toronto, where Auston Matthews’ future with the organization is muddied.

Unlike in Toronto or Winnipeg, where those two franchises appear to be on the downturn of their development cycles, the Ottawa Senators’ competitive window is now. Its roster also features a young core that is locked up for the foreseeable future.

Yet, perhaps more than any other player in the NHL, whenever adversity or disappointment afflicts this organization, outsiders question Tkachuk’s long-term commitment to the nation’s capital. And in turn, when that outside noise arises, the local media are often compelled to ask about it.

Perhaps that reaction is one of the remaining holdover effects from previous ownership. Outsiders continue to view the Senators as a small-market organization that players, especially American ones, would prefer to leave or avoid because of the combination of cold weather, fan and media attention, and taxes.

The presence of a stable and considerate owner in Michael Andlauer has been a welcome change, but there is no question that if Tkachuk wanted to get rid of the omnipresent noise, he could go one step further than removing himself from the toxicity of social media apps like Twitter. He could simply say some variation of, “I’d love to be an Ottawa Senator for a very long time.”

Unfortunately, that did not happen on Wednesday morning.

The closest Tkachuk came was the following.

“I've said it like 100 times at this point that I've never said (I want to leave), the team has never said it. But I've always believed in this team. I've always believed in playing for this city, and the city has always been good to me.

“I don't really know what else other to say than what I've said countless times. I just always have to answer to it. A lot of that stuff is just a distraction. It has never come from my mouth and has never come from the team’s mouth. So, it’s just frustrating. I always have to talk about it.”

In fairness to the captain, the questions during today’s 30-minute availability could have been more direct regarding his long-term future, but the noise will only amplify as Tkachuk approaches the July 1, 2027 timeline when he is first eligible to sign a contract extension.

With only two years left on the contract extension that Tkachuk signed on October 14, 2021, there is no mistaking the fact that his future, whether he signs a new contract with Ottawa, tests unrestricted free agency in 2028, or is traded, will have a massive impact on the Senators’ competitive window.

“For me, I just want to talk to Steve (Staios),” the captain acknowledged. “I know we're going to talk, and he just left to go to the U-18s. And just (have) our normal conversations, usually at the end of the year, both about our tea, what he thinks about my own game. I talked to (Travis) Green this morning, and we're going to talk in a couple of weeks when we all decompress a little bit more.

“For me, it's just having those conversations about our team, where we can improve, where I can improve, and all that other stuff. It's just a distraction from what we're trying to do.”

Speaking of distractions, it was a year full of them.

Tkachuk sustained a thumb injury that required surgery in the team’s third game of the season, which forced him to miss 21 games. Upon his return to the lineup, Tkachuk wore a protective guard on his thumb to protect it from further trauma, but in doing so, he was not permitted to fight and engage physically in a way that he was accustomed to.

“I didn't like having my hands tied when I wasn't able to fight,” Tkachuk said while referencing the wrap that he had to wear. “It was a frustration that I didn't really notice at the time, but I wouldn't say it took away from my game. I think it allowed other areas of my game to improve. But when I was able to take the tape off and get back to my identity, I feel like that gave me a lot of confidence.”

The effect the thumb injury had on him was interesting because some of the discourse around Brady these past few years focused on how he was more valuable to the team on the ice. Some fans wanted to see the captain fight less because of the value he brought to the team by controlling the cycle game and creating offence and chances.

Unfortunately for Brady, it helped spur a narrative that “Brady does not look like the Brady of old.”

It could have been the psychological impacts of the thumb injury, but Brady acknowledged that he experienced burnout in the latter stages of the season.

“I said it to you guys after the Olympics,” Brady recalled. “Having three days to regroup, that was really challenging to be honest with you. Coming off such a high, and then we go right on the road out west. It was tough on me, on my body, and just everything. Just trying to get adjusted back to the time, but trying to be my best and help this team win in must-win scenarios was exhausting.

“I'll be honest with you. I felt like every game, I didn't feel great, but I tried my best just to find a way and help the team win. And it was a really good, great road trip for our team, and then coming back, I just wanted to experience winning and put ourselves in a position to have a chance to win the Stanley Cup.”

Despite the concerns about his level of engagement, Tkachuk did make some inroads in his all-around game as demonstrated by HockeyStats.com and HockeyViz’s data.

Tkachuk has always provided that unique blend of physicality and shot volume that makes him such a special player, but he bought into the team’s structure. In the past, it was common for him to cheat for offence, but perhaps more than any other year, his effort in the defensive zone, tracking and backpressure was noticeably improved.

“I definitely made a lot of strides individually,” Tkachuk admitted. “For me, I want to be a guy who can play against the top guys who played at the Olympics. I remember that gold medal game. We were playing against (Connor) McDavid, (Nathan) MacKinnon, and (Macklin) Celebrini for most of the game. And, I loved it. I love playing against the best players in the world.

“For me, it's about getting better and getting everybody's confidence. I could do that day in, day out, and be confident in my own game and in that process, too. I just love being on the ice against the best players and seeing who could be the best player on the ice that night.

"That's always a fun challenge for every competitor, every player, to go against those guys. You can learn a lot, and for me, I can learn a lot from a guy like (Jordan) Spence, or a guy like (Claude Giroux), who's done it his whole career, (Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub), and the guys that don't play against the top guys every given night, I can learn from those guys.

"And not just in how they approach it, but how their game evolved, where they have different skill sets, but they all did a great job against those guys. Building confidence in those positions is something I want to continue working on.”

Brady’s evolution as a leader and hockey player will inevitably help the Senators for as long as he wants to be here, but there is no question that his future will impact this team’s competitive window.

If the Senators are serious about extending it and want to send a message to their core, who will eventually reach the same stage of their career where Brady is now, serious conversations about Tkachuk’s future need to happen soon.

Graeme Nichols
The Hockey News

This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Check out more great Sens features from The Hockey News at the links below:  

Did The Senators Actually Improve This Season? And What Has To Happen Now?
One Battle After Another: Brady Tkachuk Addresses Distraction-Filled Season
Staios Admits Senators Goaltending Plan For This Season Was Flawed
Now Facing A Suspension, Ridly Greig Addresses His Game 4 Sucker Punch
Senators’ Offence Never Gets On Track As Hurricanes Complete Sweep