ST. LOUIS — For the second time in four years, a Tkachuk has been traded to the Florida Panthers and left St. Louis Blues fans wondering, “What gives?”In 2022, Matthew Tkachuk orchestrated a sign-and-trade from the Calgary Flames to the Panthers. On Sunday, younger brother Brady Tkachuk followed his older brother’s lead, forcing his way off the Ottawa Senators and onto the Panthers.Both times, those who watched the boys grow up while their father, 2026 Hall of Fame pick Keith Tkachuk, wore the Blue Note wanted to know 1) Did St. Louis show significant interest? 2) Did the Tkachuks decide they didn’t want to play in their hometown?The answer is that the Blues did have talks with Calgary about Matthew in 2022, and general manager Doug Armstrong confirmed Monday that they also reached out to Ottawa about Brady.“With the player that got traded, we knew he was available, we inquired about him, we were told (the Blues) weren’t on (his trade) list, and that’s the end of it,” Armstrong said. “You can’t create something that’s not there.”The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that Brady supplied the Senators with a list of four teams he’d waive his no-movement clause for: Florida, the Vegas Golden Knights, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Minnesota Wild. However, in the end, there was one likely destination.Why the Senators traded Brady Tkachuk to the Panthers in an NHL blockbusterJulian McKenzieIn the aftermath of Matthew’s deal, we learned that he had his heart set on Florida, and while we haven’t heard from Brady yet, it was clear from Senators GM Steve Staios’ news conference Monday that playing with his sibling in the Sunshine State was his desire.Given that the Tkachuks have been strong supporters of St. Louis and the Blues over the years and that their dad works for the organization, Armstrong was asked Monday if he was disappointed not to be on Brady’s list.“That doesn’t matter to me,” Armstrong said.While the GM didn’t have anything to say about Tkachuk’s list, he did spend a large portion of his news conference discussing the recent trend in the NHL of star players dictating where they want to play — often warm-weather, tax-free cities with competitive teams.Like the Tkachuks to Florida, Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel to Vegas.“The landscape of the NHL — this is a personal belief; there is no personal data — we’re a time-link behind other sports in how we move ahead,” Armstrong said.Armstrong recalled a conversation he had recently with Alexander Steen, who will take over as GM on July 1. They were discussing a 15-year-old interview with NBA legend Michael Jordan talking about LeBron James choosing to sign with the star-studded Miami Heat in 2010.“Michael said in the interview, ‘I never thought like that. I didn’t want to play with Isiah (Thomas). I didn’t want to play with Larry Bird. I didn’t want to play with Magic Johnson. I wanted to beat those guys,'” Armstrong said. “Then a group of athletes came together and said, ‘Well, hold on, why don’t we dictate how the league operates?’ We’re seeing that in our sport now, too.”Armstrong wasn’t criticizing the players for their decisions. He was simply saying that the NHL has finally followed suit with the other leagues. He used Tkachuk and the fact that he had Stanley Cup-winning Carolina on his list as an example.“(The Hurricanes) weren’t on the list six years ago,” he said. “They’re on the list now because they’ve done a hell of a job and they’re a good team. So you can work your way onto that list.”Armstrong said the Blues, as an organization, need to work their way onto those lists.“You don’t have to be Einstein to figure out who those markets are now,” he said. “The (other) 28 others teams, we’ve got to knock those four or five (teams) off and make them not as desirable because they haven’t won in a while. We haven’t done that yet.“We’re in a market where you have to be a good team to acquire those players. They’re not going to come grow with us. I truly believe our job is to get into that group. When we get to the level where we’re competitive, then St. Louis will sell itself. But we have to take that next step, and that’s what Alex and I are working toward every day.”So while the Blues did express interest in Tkachuk, 26, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be in on the next available star-level player. They saw an opportunity to acquire him, perhaps because of the personal connection, and explored it to no avail.They know that to put the franchise in a position to attract other such players to St. Louis, it’s going to take Ws.“What we want to do is build a foundation, like we did for a decade when we were there,” Armstrong said. “We don’t want to do something today that doesn’t make us good over a window.“So the trades that we’re contemplating, if they arrive, will be for players that we see some form of building around for three-plus years, four-plus years, or in an age group where we control them or they’re going to stay if you get them here.”Armstrong likened the situation to the Minnesota Wild, where the team’s success helped lure Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster trade.That’s a team, of course, that was on Tkachuk’s list, too.“Bill Guerin made Minnesota a destination,” Armstrong said. “Nothing against Minnesota — I lived there — but if he can make that a destination, we can make St. Louis a destination.”