OTTAWA, Ontario — A regular-season game in October wouldn’t normally attract much attention for the Ottawa Senators. But this one was different.
Former captain Brady Tkachuk was booed loudly Wednesday night in his much-anticipated return to Ottawa with the Florida Panthers, four months after requesting a trade from the only NHL team he’d ever known.
Senators fans made it clear Tkachuk was in hostile territory and they never let up. He was jeered from the time he stepped on the ice in warmups to when he skated off after Ottawa's 5-1 win.
Some fans threw Tkachuk jerseys on the ice, and the sellout crowd had derogatory chants going throughout the night.
Tkachuk was booed for the entirety of his tribute video during the first TV timeout, but seemed to relish the fan reaction. He stepped onto the ice, raised his stick and waved to the crowd with a grin on his face.
Tkachuk laughed it off after the game.
“It was good,” he said. “Shows the passion that they have. One chapter closed and like I said, just an exciting new chapter that we’re living in, so it was nice being a part of this passionate fan base.”
Earlier in the day, the 27-year-old Tkachuk said he will always have fond memories of playing in the nation’s capital. Asked after the loss if he still felt the same way, he smiled and said, “Yeah, absolutely.”
“I mean, it’s a lot of great moments,” he said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs, but yeah, nothing but great things that I’ve experienced here and that my family experienced as well.”
Tkachuk added it felt strange to face his former club.
“Those are my teammates not too long ago, so a new experience,” he said. “A once-in-a-lifetime experience in that moment, so just tried having as much fun as I could.”
Tkachuk got the Panthers off to a strong start by scoring a power-play goal on their first shot. It was the only time Florida had anything to celebrate.
The Senators played their most complete game of the season, fed off the energy in the building and got better as the night went on.
Fans cheered when Artem Zub checked Tkachuk on his first shift and he went down. There was a playoff atmosphere in the arena, with fans chanting “We don’t need you!” and “Matthew’s better!” and “You betrayed us!”
Drafted fourth overall in 2018, Tkachuk spent eight seasons with the Senators — five as captain. A fan favorite for much of his tenure, he helped Ottawa return to the playoffs in 2025, ending a seven-year drought.
His relationship with some fans grew strained last season, though. Tkachuk and his brother Matthew, a star winger for the Panthers, faced criticism over their “Wingmen” podcast, while Brady’s decision to attend a White House celebration following the U.S. men’s Olympic gold medal also drew backlash.
Speculation about Tkachuk’s future in Ottawa intensified late last season. At the team’s season-ending news conference in April, he acknowledged the rumors had become a distraction and insisted, “I have been fully committed to this team.”
Less than two months later, Tkachuk was traded to Florida, where his brother has won two Stanley Cup championships.
“I’ve talked about it a lot that, you know, there’s professional reasons, personal reasons why I wasn’t going to re-sign here, and a lot of those things have remained private between (Senators general manager Steve Staios) and I,” Tkachuk said.
“It’s going to remain private. It just happened to work out this way.”
Senators owner Michael Andlauer previously suggested Tkachuk’s father, Keith, and brother Matthew influenced his decision to request a trade.
“Yeah, I saw the quote and he’s entitled to his opinion,” Tkachuk said. “I know for myself it was 100% my decision. I can make decisions for myself and my family.”
Tkachuk had dinner with several former teammates Tuesday night, but Tim Stutzle wasn’t among them.
“I haven’t seen him,” Stutzle said. “I have a chef at home, so I didn’t go for dinner.”
A number of fans at Wednesday night's game had altered their Tkachuk jerseys to express their displeasure. Season-ticket holder Neil Kennelly and his son Nolan both wore Tkachuk jerseys with an X taped over the captain’s C.
On the back, Nolan had covered Tkachuk’s name with the words “Wingmen is trash.”
“I’m not going to say I was crazy angry or surprised, but you know what? He doesn’t want to be here, don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” Neil Kennelly said. “We want people who want to be here.”
A group of four friends had similar perspectives. All four had Tkachuk jerseys and had changed the name plate.
“He says he’s a big boy, but his brother and dad made the decision for him,” said Phil Grant.
Tkachuk got off to a slow start this season but arrived in Ottawa as the NHL’s first star of the week after scoring natural hat tricks in back-to-back games.
Before the game, he said it was difficult to hear and read speculation surrounding his departure, but added he knew he gave his all in Ottawa and that any negative reaction wouldn’t change his positive feelings about the city or the fan base.
Tkachuk said he got to the rink around 8:30 a.m. and was happy to reconnect with staff members and others he grew close to during his time in Ottawa.
“I’ve had so many great memories here that will last forever,” Tkachuk said. “I just know how thankful and appreciative I am for everything that’s happened the last eight years.”
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