Brady Tkachuk claims that playing with his brother Matthew wasn't the primary reason he wanted to leave the Ottawa Senators to join the Florida Panthers.
The Senators sent Tkachuk to Florida in a blockbuster trade on Sunday, landing three first-round picks and a second-rounder for their 26-year-old captain. Brady Tkachuk had told Ottawa management he wasn't going to sign an extension when his current deal expires in 2028.
His brother Matthew Tkachuk, 28, was traded by the Calgary Flames to Florida in 2023 after he informed the Flames he wouldn't sign a new deal. He won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Panthers in 2024 and 2025.
But Brady Tkachuk told Matthew on their "Wingmen" podcast that it was the Panthers' success, and not the chance to play with his brother, that brought him to South Florida.
"I made this decision taking you out of it. It wasn't about you," he said. "You know how much I love you, but every single time after playing you guys, I was like, 'Holy cow, that team is incredible and they have a chance to win every single year.'"
The Tkachuks found out about the trade at a family gathering in St. Louis on Sunday.
"I knew there was a slight chance this was going to become a reality, but I didn't want to get my hopes up because you never know," said Matthew Tkachuk.
Brady Tkachuk said he had a discussion with Ottawa management after the season and then gave them distance to make their decisions. He said things went "stagnant" before business picked up over the weekend. Florida GM Bill Zito said it started with a phone call from Ottawa GM Steve Staios, who was navigating Tkachuk's no-movement clause in trying to trade him.
"Clearly, it was pointed at one team at the end," Staios said Monday of the Panthers.
"Steve called. I was like, 'Oh boy, OK,'" Zito said. "You have lists and you update them almost weekly with players that might become available. The familiarity with Brady was there, and then it was like, 'Now what do we do?' It's that simple." "We want to win. That's our job. That's our mission. Winning is paramount."
There has been plenty of speculation about why Ottawa and Tkachuk parted ways, including the aftereffects of his winning Olympic gold with Team USA over Canada in the Milan Cortina Games.
After returning to Ottawa, he was peppered with questions about the team's locker room celebration and subsequent trip to the White House, where the Tkachuk brothers attended the State of the Union address.
While he didn't go into detail about what led to his leaving Ottawa now, Brady Tkachuk was effusive in his praise of their ownership, management, staff and teammates both past and present, as well as Senators fans.
"It was an amazing eight years. It made me who I am. It wasn't an easy decision, but I felt like I was ready for the next chapter," he said on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Tuesday.
Matthew Tkachuk said he feels the change in markets will be beneficial for his brother.
"Life's good. The team's fun. No one is fighting to be the alpha," Matthew Tkachuk said. "He had to wear a lot of hats playing up in Ottawa. Being a young captain, playing in Canada, just dealing with a lot of stuff, whether it's in his control or not, which is unfortunate in the business. The best part of playing down here -- and this might sound a little bit bad -- but we're just pieces of meat down here. You do one role. You wear one hat. You don't have to do someone else's job. It's just a total group effort."