{"id":490222,"date":"2026-05-01T08:07:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T12:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=490222"},"modified":"2026-04-30T19:56:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T23:56:30","slug":"brady-tkachuk-makes-it-clear-he-wants-to-be-the-ottawa-senators-captain-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/05\/01\/brady-tkachuk-makes-it-clear-he-wants-to-be-the-ottawa-senators-captain-right-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Brady Tkachuk Makes It Clear He Wants to Be the Ottawa Senators Captain Right Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Brady Tkachuk<\/a> of the Ottawa Senators<\/a> finally sat down with the media, it brought us some clarity. It not only brought us clarity to the present times, but also for the future. Let’s discuss what he said and the impact it will have personally, as well as from a team standpoint. You know what it is, we’re about to get sensational<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Brady Tkachuk on the Ottawa Senators 2025-26 Season<\/h2>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Credit Image: \u00a9 Mickael Chavet\/ZUMA Press Wire<\/span><\/p>\n

Early on in the end-of-season media availability, the Ottawa Citizen representative<\/a> and TSN insider, Bruce Garrioch, formulated a question to get Brady Tkachuk to discuss the constant smattering of rumours that have been going around. Brady did suggest that he wasn’t around the club immediately after the season ended. Moreover, for people who follow the Sens closely, we realized it was for the birth of his first daughter Lyla. If you wondering, Brady did report baby and mom, Emma, we both doing well. However, on the hockey side of things, it put a hold on Brady’s exit meeting for the season. That would have allowed general manager Steve Staios<\/a> and crew to discuss the situation with Brady around any potential rumours.<\/p>\n

Brady himself was fairly pointed in his response to the media. “I feel like I have answered this hundreds of times<\/em>.” Furthermore, again for those who follow closely, it is a cycle, that pretty consistently, when the Sens struggle<\/a>, for whatever reason, we hear the rumours of Brady wanting out. But Brady did his best to stick up for himself, as well as the team. “I have been fully committed to this team, this city. And it has just become a distraction and frustrating to deal with<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

Brady Is In It to Win It<\/h3>\n

Brady has done his best to let his play on the ice take care of how we feels. On the ice, he is the ultimate warrior. However, that is where the 2025-26 had its challenges, and maybe let some doubt factor in. It was early in the season when a shove from behind by Roman Josi<\/a>, caused a thumb injury for Brady. He would eventually need surgery, and missed a few weeks. Moreover, upon his return, it was clear he did not want to be fighting. That made sense, again to those that follow the team closely. Besides the fact of many questionable choices in fight partners over the years for Tkachuk, had some questioning his leadership skills. So, his decision to not be fighting had the potential to be win-win.<\/p>\n

The biggest problem ended up coming from outside sources. People started questioning Brady’s toughness, or will to win, because he doesn’t want to fight. In addition, when these trade rumours come up, it is always from those outside sources. It is never anything that is internalized. Tkachuk doesn’t want to leave and Staios doesn’t want him to leave. Brady is signed for two more years in Ottawa, and unless he demands a trade, he will stay the captain of the team from the Canadian National City.<\/p>\n

Brady Tkachuk is still focused on being the best leader he can be. He is still trying to improve himself, in many facets. He wants to be the guy that captains his team to a Stanley Cup Championship. Furthermore, he wants to play against the best players, and be better than them. Later in the interview, he was describing how his teammates who play against the opposition’s best players have improved. “How their (referring to Artem Zub or Jake Sanderson, for instance) game evolved against one best player to another.<\/em>” Tkachuk wants to take that to his game. “Building confidence in those positions is something that I want to continue to work on.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Hey, you can’t be the best, unless you play against, and beat the best. That seems like Brady Tkachuk challenging himself to be better in the future. There are lots of great players in the NHL and Tkachuk wants to be in that conversation.<\/p>\n

If we mention some stats, you do see how his game evolved in 2025-26. Despite only appearing in 60 games, he did have some strong offensive stats. His points-per-60-minutes at even strength was the highest of his career (2.8). Even with an injury that potentially affected his shooting, he was still slightly above his career shooting percentage (10.0 compared to 9.7). This is interesting as his ice time (16:58), hasn’t been so low since his rookie season. He was playing more situationally, and was still able to score at a very high rate. Very impressive.<\/p>\n

It is amazing really, if we discuss his line for a minute. If we filter on lines that played 248-or-more minutes together in 2025-26<\/a>, there were 54 trios that did so, league-wide. Ottawa had four in the top 11 for expected goal percentage. But what about Brady you ask? His line with Dylan Cozens and Ridly Greig was first<\/a> (319.5 minutes together, 65.6 xGoals%, 59.3 actual goal %).<\/p>\n

Even though it was a tough loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it was a learning experience. It sounds like Brady Tkachuk and the Sens will be better for it, in the future. Brady also had the experience of winning the Gold Medal for Team USA at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics<\/a>. All this accumulates to potentially lead to a big 2026-27. Yes, that is a long way away, but for Sen fans, the future is bright, and they have a great captain to carry them.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn<\/p>\n