The Ottawa Senators are nearing a deal to trade captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in exchange for four draft picks, including three first-rounders, league sources told The Athletic.Tkachuk, 26, has two seasons left on a seven-year, $57.5 million contract he signed with the Senators in 2021, at an annual average value of $8,205,714. The contract carries a full no-movement clause, and league sources say he gave Ottawa a four-team list of preferred destinations: Florida, Vegas, Carolina and Minnesota. The forward is eligible to sign a contract extension as of July 2027.In the deal, the Senators will obtain Florida’s ninth overall draft choice in the year’s draft as well as the No. 25 pick previously owned by the Seattle Kraken. Florida acquired the latter pick in a trade from Seattle that sent forward Mackie Samoskevich to the Kraken on Sunday. Ottawa will also receive a 2029 first-round pick and a 2030 second-round pick, league sources said.
The trade means the Senators will now have three first-round picks in this year’s draft, including the No. 32 pick. The NHL restored that draft choice in March after it was previously stripped. Ottawa made the playoffs just twice in Tkachuk’s eight seasons, exiting in the first round each of the past two seasons. In 2024-25, the Senators fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games, and this past season they were swept by the Carolina Hurricanes.Tkachuk scored four goals and seven points in six games against the Leafs, but was held pointless in this year’s four-game sweep at the hands of the Canes.In 572 NHL games, Tkachuk has 213 goals and 463 points, including a career-high 37 goals and 74 points in 2023-24. This past season, despite missing a quarter of the season recovering from thumb surgery, he had 22 goals and 59 points in 60 games.Tkachuk, however, will apply those lessons in another city alongside his brother Matthew, in Florida.In the summer of 2022, Matthew told his previous team, the Calgary Flames, he wouldn’t re-sign with them and was eventually traded to the Panthers in a blockbuster deal involving forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar.Now both brothers will play with each other in the Sunshine State.This story will be updated.Jun 21, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
