The Ottawa Senators are trading captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers, where he will play with his brother, Matthew, sources told ESPN on Sunday.
The trade return includes both of Florida's first-round picks in Friday's draft -- the No. 9 choice that Florida held and the No. 25 selection the Panthers acquired in a trade with the Seattle Kraken for Mackie Samoskevich earlier Sunday -- as well as a 2029 first-round pick and a future second-round pick.
It was a shocking move Sunday as many around the league were unsure whether Tkachuk, who is under contract until 2028, would be available for a trade this summer. Tkachuk and the Senators had insisted that he was committed to the team -- with emphatic statements as recently as April, when Ottawa's season ended.
However, sources said the Senators had talks with a handful of teams about Brady Tkachuk over the past few weeks, and the captain had say over the situation with a no trade clause. During the season, it became clear to Senators management that Tkachuk was looking for a change of scenery. After his return from the Olympics, and as Tkachuk and the gold-winning Americans went on a victory tour, it became a tricky situation for the Senators to handle, especially given Ottawa is Canada's capital city.
Ottawa made the playoffs but lost in the first round in each of the past two seasons. Brady Tkachuk is in the middle of a seven-year deal that carries a $8.2 million cap hit.
Florida general manager Bill Zito continues to operate with belief that the team's window to compete is now. It was also a bold move when Zito traded a massive haul to the Calgary Flames for Matthew Tkachuk in July 2022.
Zito was on the management staff for Team USA at the 2026 Milan Olympics when the Tkachuk brothers helped the United States win gold. The Tkachuk brothers are extremely close and launched a podcast together last season.
The Panthers missed the playoffs this season after winning back-to-back Stanley Cups. They are expected to rebound, especially with captain Aleksander Barkov healthy after missing the entire 2025-26 season because of knee surgery.