In collaboration with Upper Deck, The Hockey News will be covering the best active homegrown player for each NHL team. For the Ottawa Senators, it's team captain Brady Tkachuk.
The NHL Draft in 2018 yielded some phenomenal talent in the top ten selections.
Rasmus Dahlin (1st), Andrei Svechnikov (2nd), Brady Tkachuk (4th), Quinn Hughes (7th), and Evan Bouchard (10th) have all emerged as stars. But there were also some picks that, to varying degrees, haven't yet lived up to their high draft status or their peers listed above. Jesperi Kotkaniemi (3rd), Filip Zadina (5th), Barrett Hayton (6th), Adam Boqvist (9th), Vitaly Kravtsov (9th).
The Senators held the 4th pick that year and were fortunate to land Tkachuk, who's already one of the most popular players in franchise history. After Dahlin and Svechnikov went one-two in the draft, Tkachuk was right there. He was Montreal's for the taking. Instead, they went off the board, choosing Kotkaniemi.
That left the Senators free to select their future captain, and the rest is history.
But what if Montreal had taken Tkachuk? What then?
Well, there's a good chance GM Pierre Dorion might have taken Quebec Junior sniper Filip Zadina. In fact, many fans were intially critical that Dorion took Tkachuk and not Zadina. Those grumblings were 100% gone within a couple of years as Tkachuk thrived in Ottawa and Zadina fizzled in Detroit.
Montreal not only missed out on Tkachuk, Hughes, or Bouchard, but they may have also saved their division rival from a draft mistake with Zadina.
Meanwhile, Tkachuk didn't spend a day in the minors. He jumped right into the NHL with 22 goals in his first season and continues to roll as Ottawa's leader and one of the game's true power forwards. This season, he had 37 goals and 74 points to lead his team in both categories. He also finished second in the league in penalty minutes and third in hits.
Of course, Tkachuk comes from a great hockey family. His father, Keith, was a star in the league from 1992 to 2010. Both men will be on pins and needles on Monday night as Brady's brother, Matthew, will either win or lose the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in their one-game showdown with the Edmonton Oilers.
Just like his father and brother, Brady has a rare combination of skill, toughness and leadership that only a handful of NHL players possess, and that's what makes him our choice for the Ottawa Senators' Best Active Homegrown Player, brought to you by Upper Deck.
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